Love on a Limb
by Larien Surion
Summary: When Fayt makes his attack, he swings his sword, then spins around backwards so the heel of his right leg comes at the enemy's face using the momentum of his swing. While it's an ingenious move, there is one nasty flaw to it if you're armor happens to be broken. WARNING: Yaoi content. Additional warnings inside.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Star Ocean. It belongs to Square Enix and TriAce. This story involves injury, awkward moment, yaoi (gay sex, or implications thereof), hate, social problems, and family issues. If any of these don't suit your taste, please back out now. These warnings only exist at the begining but are effective throughout the story. Special Thanks to my hubby, who actually suggested writing this, despite not being a yaoi fan himself. Loves to you :) Love on a Limb Chapter 1 Fayt was a decent fighter, and Albel the Wicked would be the last one to admit it in public. Heck, he'd be the last one to admit it to anyone, living or dead. And yet, here he was, sitting in the graveyard just outside of some Aquarian town, muttering about the latest set of bruises he was suffering from a practice match with Fayt Leingod. He wasn't doing it out of spite, really, so much as it was out of boredom waiting for the third member of their traveling group to get his lazy blonde ass out there so they could get moving. "They aren't going to answer you, you know?" Cliff said as he walked into view. "Shut it, maggot." Albel snorted as he stood and grabbed his sword. He glanced around, noticing a slight change in the weather. The air was getting a bit colder, and his metal collar was letting him know it. As they started their walk towards Kirlsa, Albel noted that Fayt was making practice swings and attacks on his way. A unique way to train, but this trip was specifically because he fought the way he did. A swing of the sword, followed by a turn, back-first, towards the enemy with the back of his right leg. An armored right leg, but the last mock-fight with Albel had damaged the armor, and thus demanded that they head to Kirlsa to get a replacement part. Albel shrugged after a while and walked ahead of Fayt a little, ducking just out of reach with every kick, as though he were taunting Fayt to actually try to hit him. Fayt understood this to be some kind of training, and was rather into it when Cliff suddenly shouted. They were surrounded. Albel growled. How had he been so careless. And with their 'great leader' unable to attack like he often did, it would be up to him and the buffoon to take out most of the bandits. Fayt tried to attack, but without the ability to use his leg as an attack, he knew he was pretty much useless. He swung, tried to pary, and mostly managed to block the knives that the bandits were using. As he turned from deflecting another blow, he spotted a bandit closing in behind one of his friends. Without thinking, he swung and kicked out towards the enemy, the back of his leg coming strait for the bandit's head. And his sword. Fayt saw the blade too late as it slipped between the broken plates of armor on the back of his ankle and cut deep. "Aaaaahhh!" Fayt fell over, his leg unable to support him. Cliff and Albel turned and attacked, cleaving the bandit in two and sending the parts flying. "Pathetic." said Albel. He glanced at Fayt, who's leg was bleeding profusely. Cliff was already bandaging the wound, and hefted the blunette up onto his back. "You're quite stupid, you know." Albel scolded in his arrogant tone. "Only a fool would attack anyone like that with their armor broken. You should know, the worm carrying you does it several times a week. I'm not even sure where he keeps getting his weapons from, it must cost a fortune. But I was sure that you would have enough of a brain to . . . ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!" Fayt only lay limp and heavy over Cliff's back, the bandage on his ankle poorly done at best and bloody as all heck. It was obvious just by looking at him that he was in pain, and unconcious because of it. "Maggot." Albel muttered. It was only about an hour later that Fayt woke in a bed at an inn. There was a cloth over his forehead, and a doctor was looking at the wound on his leg. Trying to 'be a man about it', Fayt bit his lip in an attempt not to scream. The doctor noticed his suddenly ridgid body and looked up at him. "This is going to hurt. I need to perform some light surgery on your leg in order for it to heal." Fayt nodded, but the sudden wash of alcohol over the wound in order to clean it made him faint again. Albel, who happened to be in the room observing this, raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Could the injury really be so bad that their great leader would be incapacitated like this? His good hand went up and touched his metal gauntlet, memories of his father flooding to him. Burning. The flames of the dragon as they came rushing towards him in his failure. The touch of his father as he was pushed away from those flames. His arm, as he grabbed at the older man in foolish pride, catching fire. The wails of pain that issued forth from his own lips as he was burned, as Woltar pulled him away from his father. The blackness that threatened to swallow him as his burnt limb was treated. The days spent with a burn-fever, stumbling through the halls. Hearing the nobles talk aqbout him as though he couldn't hear while he stumbled like a fool. Collapsing in someone, crying like an idiot, and welcoming the comforting toch as they held him and merely petted his head. Feeling like a complete idiot when he woke up in a room that was not his own and discovering he'd fallen asleep, and on King Arygliph 13 at that. The Glyphian snorted again and settled in for a long wait. When the doctor left the room, at long last, Albel settled in on the other bed and began to check his own armor, as he often did. He just prefered not to do it near doctors, since they had a nasty habit of asking about his charbroiled arm. It was while he was checking his armor that Fayt woke again. And Albel figured it was time for him to lay in on the invalid, seeing as how Fayt couldn't get away like he usually did. "You brianless maggot! You could have lost your leg for a stunt like that! Don't you know better than to use damaged armor in battle? And that attack left you wide open, you fool, it's no wonder you were hurt. What were you thinking?" "I wasn't." Fayt replied. "The only thing on my mind was protecting you from loosing your head." Albel blinked. Had he just heard Fayt correctly? The wound was from trying to protect him? Why would Fayt bother to protect him, anyway? Still somewhat shocked at the new knowledge, but not wanting to show it, Albel continued to make his small repairs to his armor. He was going to need to get a new gauntlet soon with the use he was getting out of this one. Softly, he muttered, "Thanks, maggot." and kept working, hoping Fayt had heard him, but also hoping he hadn't. Thanks wasn't something he gave out that often, and he didn't want to look soft. Glancing up, he noticed Fayt was still awake, and had herd him. Well, good for him. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Albel frowned at Cliff as the huge Klausian carried Fayt on his back towards Arias, where they were supposed to regroup with the others. He understood that Fayt couldn't walk because of the wound and the stitches, but for all the big man's bickering, wouldn't it have been easier to just hire a wagon? It would have been faster, too, come to think of it. The town of Arias couldn't come fast enough for Albel, despite the fact that he had to take care of all the fighting, which mostly involved beating back strange things like vicious porcupines or the odd small dragon. Out of spite, Albel had kicked a tree and had litterally glared the hornets away from himself with his anger at Cliff's bickering. "Hey, Cliff!" called Mirage, the other blonde Klausian of the group, and the one with more brains, as far as Albel figured. She was nicely built as far a women went, and usually came up with decent battle strategies, but there were also times where she was, as he put it, just another dumb woman that grated on his nerves. "Hey, guys." Cliff called. He practically dropped Fayt onto a nearby bench and plunked his bulk down on another. "Well, Fayt's out of commision for a while." "Huh?" asked Sophia. She looked at Fayt, looking him up and down, until her mud-brown eyes came to rest on the splinted ankle. "Oh, what happened?" she cooed. Albel tried to suppress a shudder. He hated that awful, sickly-sweet voice that the girl used any time she was trying to curry Fayt's favor or devotion. Something she never succeeded at, and Albel was sure it was because of that tone she used. "It got cut." Fayt replied. "I'm not allowed to walk on it, so for the next while I'm afraid I'm not going to be of much use." Pepitta Rosetti, a tan girl with white-blonde hair, walked over and gently petted Fayt's knee. "It's ok, Fayt. You just take it easy until your better, alright?" "Thanks, Pepitta." Fayt smiled. Suddenly, his face twisted to one of pain. "Owch!" Albel, without much thought, kicked a certain little bratty Menodix in the rump and sent him clear across the courtyard where they sat. "FILTHY LITTLE MAGGOT!" he shouted. "Touch him again and I'll break every bone in that scrawny, flea-infested body of yours and use your tail for a scarf!" Roger hid behind Mirage and whimpered. "What did he do to deserve that?" Cliff asked. "Let's you get wounded and then get it poked at while it heals, you big ape." Albel replied. "We're wasting time." He looked at Fayt, then knelt, hefting Fayt over his skinny shoulders like a fur scarf, and walked into Arias like nothing was wrong. The other just stared. "Did something happen that we're not aware of?" Maria asked. Cliff just shrugged. `~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~` Fayt blinked as he was sat down in his room at the inn. While it had looked like he was being carried like a sack of potatoes or someones prized fur, Albel had actually been quite careful with him getting him into the inn and up to the room."Thanks." Fayt said. "For what, worm?" Albel asked. He took Fayt's foot and carefully pulled the boot off. "This isn't going to do you any good." he muttered, tossing the boot behind him, where it banged against the door and flumped to the floor. "For getting me out of that mess." Fayt replied. "If Sophia looked at me with those 'poor you' eyes any longer I might have been sick." Albel snorted in an effort to hide what was almost a laugh. He inspected Fayt's ankle wound, noting the bit of blood from when Roger had poked it. "Damned pest." he grumbled, unding the bandage and re-setting the splint. He wound a new bandage to the injury, making sure to keep it secure. But he didn't let go of the foot. "Um . . ." Fayt paused, bewildered. The look on Albel's face wasn't one of anger, hatred, or fury. It was one of someone who was trying to figure something out, despite the scowl. The Glyphian male looked Fayt's food over, flexing his claw-hand slightly. An idea was forming, but it was going to take some work. The first thing would be to see just what could be done, and work with that. He flexed his hand again before letting go of Fayt's leg and sitting on his own bed across the small room from the Earthling. "Um, Albel?" "Hmm? What, maggot?" Albel asked. "Thanks." Albel raised an eyebrow. "What now?" he asked, dropping the derogitory terms. "Taking care of my leg. I wouldn't have been able to do that myself." Albel shrugged and lay down on his bed, staring up at the cieling. "You welcome." he mumbled as he rolled over, adding, "maggot" for good measure. `~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~` "So how are we supposed to get to Aquios now?" Sophia asked. "Fayt can't move in his condition." Fayt rolled his eyes at her mock concern for his wellbeing. This argument had been going on for nearly a week, and he was sure that if it wasn't for Albel always being somewhere nearby, his injury would have been a lot worse off. "Well, you turned down any ideas we've had." said Nel. "Carrying Fayt is the most likely way we're going to get him to Aquios, but it'll also put whoever has him in danger, since they won't be able to deffend themselves." Mirage pointed out. "And the only two strong enough to carry him that distance are Cliff and Adray." added Maria, the other blunette of the party. Albel swore that she and Fayt were related somehow. How else could you explain two people with blue hair like that? And while Maria may be vain enough, Albel knew firsthand from having to help him at night, Fayt was naturally that color. "We've seen what happens when Adray carries him just down the stairs." Sophia whined. "And Cliff's our best fighter after Fayt." "So who would you suggest?" Pepitta asked. "Roger and I are too small to carry him." Roger reached a hand towards Fayt's leg, only to pause as a hand grabbed his tail. As if on cue, Adray opened the door, and the little Menodix went flying out, followed by the lines, "Stay out there and freeze, maggot!" Adray closed the door, leaving Roger to try and find shelter from the rain he'd been tossed into. "Maria and I certainly aren't carrying him." said Mirage. "I'm not strong enough to." Nel added. "So that only leaves you or Albel. And you're even weaker than I am, so it would have to be our Ariglyph friend." Albel gave her a look that said 'I'm not your friend'. He sighed, knowing already that the conversation was going to go in circles again, today, with nothing actually being decided upon. Taking the cloak Fayt wore on rainy days, he suddenly wrapped Fayt in it and hefted him over his shoulder again before starting to make his way outside. "Hey!" Sophia shouted, giving chase. She had to duck back into the inn to grab her cloak before following the now-soaked Glyphian to a covered wagon, where Fayt was deposited. "Tynave. Farleen. What are you two doing here?" Nel asked. "We got a message saying we were needed to help get you to Aquios." Tynave replied. "We were already on our way by, so we figured picking you up wouldn't be a problem." Farleen added. Albel climbed into the back of the wagon and put his foot across the opening at the back, prohibitting anyone else from getting in. Not that they could, anyway. The wagon was full of spring wheat and ores traded from Ariglyph. Just having Fayt and Albel in there filled the remaining space in the wagon. Nel looked at the Glyphian, then back to the two Aquarian women in the wagon. "Alright. We'll march beside you, keep the wagon safe." "Alright." nodded Farleen. With that, the wagon started the slow, rocking trip towards Aquios. Fayt looked over at Albel, noticing that his wagon-partner was occupied with something, but because of the bags of goods surrounding them, he couldn't tell what. Outside the wagon, he could hear the others. "Why's Albel in the wagon?" whined Sophia. "To protect Fayt." Nel replied. "I thought that's what we're doing slogging out here." said Maria. "We're protecting the wagon." Mirage clarified. "Albel's Fayt's last line of defence, so to speak." "Look at me!" crowed Roger from under the wagon, where he was clinging to part of the undercarriage. Right before they hit a bump and he was plastered in mud. "Yeah, look at you." said Pepitta. "In need of a bath." She giggled and hopped up closer to the front of the wagon, where she could see where they were going better. "Albel, what are you working on?" Fayt asked. No responce. Albel kept working at it, sometimes making faces at whatever it was, and at other times scratching his head with the end of the pen (Fayt realized Albel had snitched his fountain pen). Whatever the Glyphian was working on, he seemed puzzled with it, and it vanished in his hip pouch before they stopped in Peterny for the night. "Fayt." hummed Sophia. "I booked the rooms for tonight." Albel hefted Fayt over his shoulder again and climbed out of the wagon. "Well then, wench. What room were we assigned?" "I'm not rooming with you!" Sophia shouted. Albel tried his hardest not to deck the girl. "I meant Fayt and myself, BITCH!" "Your not rooming with him, either!" Sophia snapped. "Yes, he is." Fayt argued from his place as Albel's new shoulder pauldron. "He's the only one that knows how to care for my injury, thank you." Sophia pouted, and Albel knew how she'd wanted the rooms done. There was no way in heaven or hell (whichever one he'd go to, it would probably be hell) that he would EVER room with that red-headed Aquarian bitch. "Last room on the left, second floor." Sophia grumbled. She scowled after the pair as Albel headed into the inn. "Why can't I ever get to stay with Fayt?" Nel stood beside her. "Because Fayt's the only one brave enough to spend the night with a homocidal maniac like Albel." Sophia sighed. Meanwhile, Fayt had found himself, once again, plopped neatly on a bed and having his ankle taken care of. He sighed, feeling completely useless. And then there was why Albel had been in the back of the wagon with him. He was certain that it was to work on something, but what? "Hey, umm, Albel . . ." "Hmm?" Albel looked up from his bandagework. "What, maggot?" "What were you working on in the back of the - Owch! - back of the wagon?" Fayt whimpered a little as Albel tightened the bandage. The Glyphian snorted. "You'll see when we reach a decent forge in Aquios, worm." He whiped his forehead and stepped back, sitting on his own bed. Fayt looked across the room in confusion. Had he just heard Albel sigh? The other man was undoing the buckles and hinges that held the gauntlet to his arm, and Fayt tried his best not to stare as the metal slid away to reveal a thin, burn-scarred arm and hand from about a third above the elbow all the way down his left arm. The gauntlet found it's way up onto the bedpost, and Albel lay back and pulled the covers over, his arm lying out in the open for Fayt to see by the moonlight. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Fayt was about ready to chuck his breakfast by the time the wagon reached Aquios. The constant rocking back and forth caused by Roger bouncing around and grabbing one side and then the other in an effort to piss off Albel had only half-worked. While it had succeeded in getting Albel to boot the Menodix into the still-fresh mud, it had not gleaned anyone a look at what he'd been scribbling. "Welcome back, Lady Nel." said one of the servants of the castle. "Your room arangements are still the same, and the same place." "Thank you." Nel replied. She watched as Albel carried Fayt past over his shoulder yet again. "Don't they ever get tired of that?" "I dunno." said Cliff, picking the dirty Roger off his shoulder. "All I know is, this guy needs a bath." He sniffed and held Roger away at arm's length. "Like, probably some time last week." Roger just hung there by his pants straps and tried to look cute. Everyone knew he was a stinker. "I'm going up to check my room." called Sophia as she darted up the stairs. "Uh-huh." said Mirage, just before giving Cliff a kiss. "And probably to get kicked out of Fayt and Albel's room." "Wanna bet on that?" asked Maria. Sophia headed up and counted out the rooms until she reached Fayt and Albel's. Pressing her ear against the door, she tried to listen in on anything that might be 'going wrong' to her. "Why are you - Owch! - so interested in my -Oh! - in my foot?" Albel finished trying to gauge something and sat back. "This isn't gonna work." he grumbled, looking at the very crude drawing. "Oh, well." He stood, putting the doodle back in it's place in the hip pouch, picked up Fayt, and headed out again. The movements were so fast, Sophia almost didn't have time to get back from the door. He shot her nothing more than a glare, really, before heading down back to the first floor. "Hey, where you going?" Cliff asked. "Working, maggot." Albel snipped as he headed out of the castle. Working on this without the person he was building it for there just wasn't going to make it acceptable. Fayt was at a loss. Here he was, slung over Albel's shoulder, again, getting a damned good look at Albel's ass, again, and having no clue about where he was going. Again. He sighed and put up with the strange possition, knowing that someone wasn't doing what Albel wanted when several derogitory terms were used to tell the person (people?) to get out. He knew where they were. The dirt on the floor said it all. This was the workshop in Aquios. There was soot, some metal shavings, and a few small burns in the wood. Fayt noticed the two workers assigned there leaving in a hurry, and he was swung around and placed on a bed that had been put there for the workers. "Stay, maggot." said Albel. He turned and twisted his twin ponytails up against his head and pinned them there with an old piece of leather. Fayt realized that this was so his hair wouldn't get in the way as Albel sifted through the metals, seemingly looking for something in particular. He found it, whatever it was. Fayt lay down on the bed, tired from the trip. He yawned and watched as Albel began to work at the forge, heating and then hammering the metal, cutting at it with the tools. The days blurred. The sound of the hammer rang day and night, and Fayt drifted in and out of sleep. There was always something to eat nearby, so he never knew exactly what time of day it was. Occationally, he'd see Albel asleep leaned on the edge of the bed, sweat beaded across his tanned skin, hair still tied wierdly to keep it away from the work, the skirt of his outfit tied off to the side, showing lean and powerful legs. Other times, Albel would be tossing various people (sometimes quite litterally) out of the workshop and tell them, with no small amount of profanity, to stay the hell out until he was finished what he was doing. But the most beautiful sight to Fayt's eyes was watching as Albel worked at the metalwork he was crafting. The light from the fires in the forge lit Albel's features perfectly, his muscles standing out against his flesh as he swung the hammer. The beads of sweat glistened from his forehead and arm, across his toned abs, and the light sway of his black-gold locks was mesmerizing. What the heck was he thinking? Fayt put his hand to his face. Had he just thought Albel was beautiful? No, that wasn't the word that had flashed through his mind. Mesmerizing, that was it. But, why? There was movement near his wounded leg, and Fayt looked down. Albel was kneeling there, fitting something to Fayt's foot and ankle. There was a clinking noise, and Fayt felt a tightness around his limb. Looking at Albel, he noticed the other had let the twin tails hang down again, and the skirt of his outfit was hanging loose again. The forge work must be done. Albel stood and grabbed Fayt's hand, pulling him up to standing. Fayt was scared at first, but stood anyway, almost afraid he was going to be chucked over Albel's shoulder again. Instead, Albel stepped back once, letting Fayt stand on his own. Fayt swallowed and tentatively looked down. He was surprised. His leg from mid-calf down to about half his foot was closely encased in a tight armor boot, padded with leather to keep from chafing the skin. He looked back at Albel, too stunned for words. "Th-thank you." he stammered, just before falling back to a seated possition on the bed. Standing again was actually pretty hard after sitting or lying down for so long. "But . . . why'd you do this, Albel?" The tanned Glyphian just flexed his clawed arm. Fayt understood. Albel also knew the pain of loosing something. `~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~` Fayt was a bit unsteady as he was put down when they returned to the castle. "Has it really been a week?" he asked. Albel nodded, yawned, and went off towards the stairs. Fayt sat down, somewhat exhausted from what used to be a five minute walk to the castle suddenly takeing two hours because he had to shuffle, and rest a lot from the pain of putting weight on his leg. Brace or not, after being carried around, even if it was like a sack of potatoes, walking hurt. Sophia came around the corner, stopping suddenly when she saw Fayt sitting in the hallway by himself. Looking around, she couldn't see anyone else, so she skipped over. This would be perfect. "Hey, Fayt." He looked up, a somewhat tired expression on his face. "Oh, hey, Sophia." Sophia put her hands on her hips. "Oh, hey? Is that all you can say after Albel abducted you for a week? A week! And where where you, anyway?" "At the workshop." Fayt replied. He tapped the brace on his leg. "Huh? Oh, hey. Did Izak make that?" Sophia asked, kneeling to get a better look. "No." Fayt replied, not sure he should say who had made it. "Boyd?" Fayt shook his head. Sophia tried to think. Who else was good at smithery? "Gusto?" Fayt shook his head again. "Albel made it." "WHAT?!" Sophia shouted. "But why?" Fayt looked down at his leg. "Because, I guess we're kinda alike. I mean, he's lost his arm, and need that gauntlet. I lost the ability to use my leg, and now, I can at least stand again." He stood up, as if to prove a point. Sophia tilted her head slightly. "You still can't fight, you know." she said, walking a little closer. "Yeah, I know." said Fayt, turning his head away. Why was she getting so close? "It's for your own good, you know." Sophia continued. She got really close to Fayt. "Fayt?" He looked back, his eyes going really wide as the brunette closed the very short gap between them and kissed him. Getting his hands up on her shoulders, he pushed her back, breaking the kiss. "What the hell?" he asked, spitting on the floor. From the shadows of the balcony, Albel smiled. So, Fayt hated Sophia, or at least the little wenches kisses. Perhaps there was hope after all. Turning from the balcony, Albel walked back to the room he shared with Fayt and flopped into the bed closest to the door. Wrapping his arms around the pillow, he held it close and breathed in the scent of the own. Fayt. It was no secret to Albel the fact that he liked men over women. He'd never even made it talking to any woman that wasn't an enemy before ending up in this motly crew, and he hated talking to them. He'd been with a few guys, but never long enough to do things with them. He played with himself, and actually kinda got off on the feeling of things in his ass, but he'd never admit it. Especially not to Woltar or King Ariglyph XIII. Those two were pestering him nonstop now, given the fact that he was now . . . what, 22? 24? Whatever, he didn't care. They wanted him to get a nice girl (Apris forbid), get married (that might still happen, but not the way they want), and have kids (oh, no, never . . . unless Fayt was capable of that). Albel shuddered, drinking in the sent of the one person that had his heart. How he wished the other knew. Lying still, he heard the door open. CRAP! "Huh?" It was Fayt. If I don't die from embarassment, I'll actually think about praying to you once in a while, Albel prayed. Here he was, lying in the wrong bed, hugging the pillow, fantasising about sex with the person that BELONGED THERE! Dear Apris, he felt about as big as a mouse. "Must have been pretty tired after all that work." Fayt muttered, sitting down in the chair nearby. "Whew." Albel waited to see if Fayt was going to just occupy the other bed (Damn, that would be hot), but there was no such luck. He heard Fayt yawn and seem to settle into the CHAIR! Rolling over, he reliquished the pillow and glared at Fayt. It took about three minutes for the blunette to notice. "Aah! Albel." "Why didn't you just climb in the other bed?" Albel asked, trying to supress the harness at his nether regions. Fuck, it was hard (litterally). He sat up and groaned. There was no way he was going to be able to hide that. "Actually, my leg hurts." Fayt said. "I thought sitting might help a bit." Imediately, Albel was kneeling in front of Fayt, and unstrapped the brace, checking it and Fayt's leg over. He sighed. Fayt blinked. Was Albel dissapointed? "The leather's wrong." Albel muttered. "No, it's not the brace. It works great. I just had to attempt to make a quick escape away from Sophia and ran into Cliff and . . . it's my fault. I moved around too much." Albel shook his head. "Idiot." he said, picking Fayt up like a girl and putting him to bed. Moving over to his own bed, he shed most of his clothes (he hated summers in Aquaria) and climbed into bed. Fayt looked over at the familiar clinking of metal and leather, watching again in - what was it? Wonder? Facination? - as Albel removed his gauntlet and hung it on the bedpost before lying down to sleep. Again, the raw skin was visible and looked almost painful. Reaching over the side of the bed, Fayt picked up the leg brace. The metal looked crude, but it was just tempered, not polished. The edges were still smoothed so they wouldn't cut, and the leather underneath was raw, fresh from the tanning rack. Uncombed, not scraped yet, but still usable. The most refined parts were pieces Fayt knew Albel had needed to purchase: the two buckles that held the device closed, and the matching two hinges. They were bright and polished, nothing like the crude yet beautiful handiwork of the creator for the rest of the brace. Fayt ran his fingers over the unpolished piece, admiring how the darker color of the natural metal seemed to define the creator. It was . . . "Beautiful." Fayt whispered, putting it back down on the floor before falling asleep. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 The summer swept past, and Albel seemed to spend most of his time with Fayt. The group was constantly asked to do back and forth work between Ariglyph and Aquarios, so there was a lot of travel. Since Sophia refused to just leave Fayt behind, Albel volunteered to let the others go ahead while he and Fayt traveled the slightly more needy trips in the wagon. This also gave Fayt a healthy respect for Albel's driving skills. And anyone else gave the homicidal psychopath a wide berth when he drove through. "He's crazy!" argued Sophia one morning. "Fayt, I refuse to let you go with him." "She's right, Fayt." said Maria. "He almost ran us over going through Peterny last time." "You knew we were coming through." Fayt replied, hobbling over to the two-wheeled cart and the somewhat prancy . . . whatever . . . that pulled it. Albel came out of the Aquios palace dressed in his normal gear, only to be stopped by Cliff and Adray. "What is it, you morons?" "Let Fayt drive." Cliff said. "You'll be doing the world a favor." Albel looked over at the others, then at Fayt. The two of them knew what was going to happen. Too bad the others didn't. Throwing his hands up in mock surrender, Albel said, "Fine, maggots. You win." He climbed up into the cart and handed the reigns to Fayt. "I'd stay out of Peterny if I were you, fools." he smirked. "What?" Nel asked as she stepped out. Her eyes widened when she saw who had the reigns of the cart. "Back up!" she shouted, and not a moment too soon. Everyone backpedaled, and were still left coughing as Fayt literally left them in the dust, the only sound remaining being the suicidal laughter of Albel Nox. Nel glared at the others. "Ok. Who was the bright one to tell him to let Fayt drive?" Everyone pointed at Cliff, except Cliff. He pointed at Adray. Nel groaned. "That's Albel's racing cart. Of course the animal's going to run." she explained. "The only difference is Albel can control it. Fayt can't." "Oops." said Cliff. Mirage sighed from where she sat on the steps. "No wonder he said to stay out of Peterny." There were other . . . unique experiences. One was during a more leisurely trip (they were only going as far as the Sanmite Republic, so Fayt was allowed to walk), when the girls decided to bathe. Albel was sitting off to one side with Fayt, only half-listening to Cliff, Adray, and Roger while they planned to sneak over and watch. "Fayt." "Hmm?" "You're umm, starting to smell." Albel said, trying to actually be polite. And suppress some other things. Again. "Oh. I'm sorry." Fayt looked down at his foot. "But, um, I kinda need help." Albel motioned for Fayt to follow him over to a different spring from where the girls were and carefully stripped Fayt and himself from their clothes. He was even more hard pressed to get into the water, since the cold was supposed to help with those kinds of things. Damn, did Fayt look good. But he had to guide Fayt over and help him in, since walking without the brace was still not allowed. As the two had bathed, shouts from the other spring erupted, followed by the shouts of several symbological attacks. In an effort to spare themselves any embarrassment, Fayt had shifted in the spring to a more covered area, and Albel had been moving in that direction when they'd heard a voice behind them. Albel was irked. His hair, his lovely black and gold locks, were loose, something he hardly let anyone see. The bonus was that he was not looking in the person's direction, so there was a chance they might not know it was him. "Excuse me?" It was Mirage, thank goodness. Any of the others would have been more than enough cause to drown himself right where he stood. Mirage at least knew of one's pride, despite being in a relationship with the blonde ass of the group. "Hmm?" Albel partially turned his head in order to make sure there were no other women present. He had no idea what he was portraying to Mirage, though. With his back turned to her, and his left shoulder hidden by both his body and his hair, added to Mirage's angle and a few plants helping out, he was the perfect image of . . . "Have you seen two men around here, miss?" Albel sank down into the water with a groan, too embarrassed to even answer. Vanishing into the water, Fayt was sure he'd slipped or something and leaned out into the spring. "Albel!" "Fayt?" Mirage asked. She spotted the 'long-haired beauty' pulling himself out of the water on the far side of the spring, and she gasped. "I'm so sorry." Albel wrapped himself in a towel and looked back, his back still mostly to her. He scowled. "Do I look that fucking feminine to you, worm?" Mirage stepped back. "I'm sorry. I'll leave, now." With that, the poor Klausian woman scooted back to the camp, very red in the face. Albel and Fayt had returned to camp about half an hour later, Albel's hair still wet, but tied back in it's signature style again. He shot one glance at Mirage, and the woman was excusing herself to retreat to the privacy of her tent. But now, the fall was upon them, and the decision of where to spend the winter was plaguing most of the group. "I have to return to Aquios." said Nel. "Adray as well." "Aye, I'll be good to see Clair again." Adray added. Roger rubbed his sore bottom, tired of being booted around like a furry football any time he went to poke at Fayt's leg. "I'm heading home to Surferio." "I have to go that way, too. The Rosetti Troupe is spending the winter there." Pepitta chimed. "We'll see you in the spring." "Well, Cliff and I will be spending the winter in Aquios." said Mirage, her hand resting on her slightly bumped out front end. "It'll just be safer for the baby." "I have obligations." said Albel. He glanced sideways out the corner of his eye at Fayt. Would the blunette come with him? Sophia smirked. "Well then, Fayt and I . . ." "I'm going to Ariglyph with Albel." Fayt said. "Sorry, guys." "Hmph. Well then I'm going too." said Sophia. "Oh sure." said Albel. "As long as you don't mind the frigid cold, low food supply, and come late winter, lack of heat, bar your own body warmth." He picked Fayt up in his traditional over the shoulder fashion and carried him off to a regular wagon that was headed for Ariglyph. "We'll see you when the passes open again." Sophia just stood there, mouth agape, as the wagon drove off, taking Fayt with it. With a huff, she turned and accompanied the others back to Aquios. `~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~` "Welcome home, Lord Albel." said the servants. They all hovered around, trying to get a good look at the youth tossed over their master's shoulder. "Yeah, whatever." said Albel, plopping Fayt into a chair. "Welcome to my home, maggot." The disappointed moans and sighs from the staff made Albel sigh himself, especial when he heard one of them announce the arrival of Lord Woltar. "Oh, for pities sake." Albel turned around. "What now, grandfather?" Fayt nearly choked. Albel and Woltar were related? "What's this I hear of you dragging home a man again, Albel?" The younger only folded his arms over his chest and remained stubbornly silent. "Albel, we all want to see you happily settled down with a nice girl." Albel clenched his jaw and scowled. This was not what he wanted to hear right now. "Winter is the perfect time to find someone, get to know a girl intimately." Fayt blinked. Was the old man trying to get Albel laid? "Come now, Albel. I'm not getting any younger, and neither are you. It's time you found someone, settled down, had children of your own. An heir is needed to keep the Nox Family going." Albel rolled his eyes and turned back to Fayt. "This way." he growled, picking Fayt up again and carrying him down to one of the guest rooms. He set Fayt down on the edge of the bed and sighed. "Sorry you had to hear that." he muttered. "Why haven't you found anyone, Albel?" Fayt asked. "Have you?" Albel returned, trying to figure out if he was chasing his own tail or not. "I'm not sure." Fayt replied. "It's complicated right now." "What about Sophia?" Albel asked. Fayt made a face. "Yuck. Only wierd people date family." Albel nodded. Speaking a fair bit louder than before, he said "My rooms the next one over on left when you step out. Just in case you get cold." With that, he strode over to the door and opened it, whacking two maids and Woltar in the face with the heavy wood. He frowned. "Really?" he asked before stepping out and heading down the hall. Fayt just blinked. Were they eavesdropping? With a sigh, he stood and walked over to the window and peered outside. The grounds of the Nox Estate were a decent size, and Fayt could tell that a fair amount of it was actually pastureland for a few animals that actually survived out in Ariglyph. There was a rather nice, but small, garden out there, too, and someone had stepped out into it. It took Fayt a moment to notice that the person out there was Albel, and he was standing near a pair of stones. The Glyphian seemed to just be standing there for a moment, then knelt and placed something near each stone. That was when Fayt realized, it was a memorial garden, and those two stones were actually graves. One of the maids stepped in and placed a try down on the table in the room. "Dinner." she said curtly before turning and leaving. Fayt hobbled his way over to the table, noticing that it was really settings for two. He sat and waited, almost knowing who the second person was. He was right. Albel stepped into the room only a few moments later and joined him at the small table. "Don't you have company?" he asked. "I do, and I'm dinning with him." Albel replied. "Woltar comes often enough I don't bother anymore, the senile old fool." There was silence for a while as the two ate. "So, um . . ." Albel raised his eyebrow, but said nothing. "Why is Woltar trying to get you married off?" Albel snorted. "He thinks by pressuring me, I'll marry some wench and have a family." He sighed. "Things aren't quite that simple, though." "Tell me about it." Fayt returned. "It seems everyone's pegged me and Sophia together, but I can't stand the girl. She's so clingy and needy and sappy and bleagh!" Albel snickered. "I think that about most girls." he said. He smiled, not a leer or a smirk, but an actual smile. It was actually something almost human. "So, you don't like women?" Fayt asked. He wasn't quite sure why, but now that he was actually alone with Albel, he felt more at ease with the normally suicidal or homicidal madman. Almost like he was seeing a different side of Albel. "I don't like most women." Albel replied. "I think the last one I ever actually got along with was my mother." He sighed and scratched his head. "Actually, come to think of it, she was the only one." Fayt smiled. "What was she like?" Albel looked out the window. "She was beautiful." he said, his gaze turning a little distant. "She would sing to me, even before I'd been born. My mother was a firm believer in Apris, and also in oracle readings. When I was still a baby, she took me to an oracle and asked what my future held." He paused, wondering if he should continue. "What was the oracle?" Fayt asked. "The oracle said that I would change the Nox Family forever. Chaos and death would follow in my wake, until an angel would take me." Albel sighed. "No one believed that it was really going to be true, until my mother died." "What happened?" Albel looked down at his hands. "I got in a fight, with another child. I was about ten, and it had started fairly innocently. He punched me, and I hit back. But then, it got violent. He took a rock, crushed my hand. Left hand, too, the one I wrote with. I grabbed a knife and swung at him. My hands were already slick with the blood from my crushed hand. The blade slipped." He began to shake, trying to keep from letting his emotions boil over, but Fayt could tell where it was going. "I changed the Nox Family forever. The blade hit my mother in the chest, and killed her." Fayt stood and hobbled over to Albel, wrapping his arms around the shaking Glyphian. "It's alright, Albel." he soothed. "It's alright." Albel leaned onFayt and sighed. "I thought my tears had dried up after my father died." he said softly. "Why, Fayt? Why can you make it seem alright to be . . . to be human?" Fayt just ran his hand over Albel's hair. "I honestly don't know, but I'm here for you, alright?" Albel nodded. "I may take you up on that, later." 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Fayt shifted under the warm blankets and furs, blinking slightly. The door had creaked, and he thought he heard a shuffling sound. There was the sound of material, and then something cold touched Fayt's shoulder, trying to get under the blankets. The other body was shivering, but who was it? Tentatively, Fayt turned to his side, trying to see who or what was in his bed. The fluffy black-gold locks of Albel the Wicked Nox greeted him as the frozen Glyphian stopped squirming and just lay still. Fayt rolled over so he was facing Albel and touched the other's cheek. "Oh, gods, your like ice." he whispered, pulling Albel closer. Carefully, since Albel was lying on his left, he pulled the thin, burnt arm forwards and pressed it between their bodies. It wouldn't do for Albel to loose the rest of that arm. Fayt's right hand occupied with holding Albel's left close, he wrapped the blankets around them, drawing the frozen older man closer and holding him there with his left arm. "You have to stay warm." Fayt whispered, looking at the frost-flakes that were starting to thaw on Albel's eyelashes. Inside, Albel wanted to rejoice. Fayt was holding him. He snuggled closer, burying his head in Fayt's shoulder. Fayt was actually holding him. It wasn't out of pity, either, but out of genuine concern for his health. Albel had drempt of this for a long time. Sure, he'd had to stand in front of an open window for an hour in order to have an excuse to crawl in with Fayt, but it was worth it. Besides, the cold really did help with certain, er, other problems. Smiling slightly, Albel fell asleep. Fayt checked Albel's forehead to make sure the Glyphian wasn't getting sick, then settled in to sleep as well. It was a loud shriek in the morning that roused the two men from their rather warm cuddle. "Hmm?" Albel grumbled, sitting up. For some reason, his hair looked even more unruly in the morning, but was still perfectly tied in the twin hair-tails. Fayt blinked. Albel slept without a shirt, as he'd noticed the night before, and now he had a nice view of Albel's back. The light tan defined the muscles that gently arched and flexed as the Glyphian stretched and told the maid to get lost. Following the line of Albel's spine, Fayt was startled when it didn't vanish under anything that resembled sleepwear, but rather, only some braided linen material that framed those not quite as tanned globes Albel called his ass. Wait? What? Albel had gone to bed last night in a thong? No wonder the guy had been cold. Albel looked back at Fayt and smiled mischievously. Gods, that was a sexy look on him. "Thank you for the warmth last night." Albel said as he got up and collected his dressing robe from the floor where it had fallen the night before. As he bent over, Fayt got another rather nice look at those toned buns of Albel's before they were covered by the robe and the owner walked away, closing the door behind him. "Yeah." Fayt whispered. He looked down and gasped, putting his hands over his crotch, where a rather obvious tent was showing. "Ok." Fayt got up and opened the window a little, trying to let the cool air wake him from what he figured was obviously a dream, and try to soften the arousal in his pants. Fayt shuffled down the hall, intent on finding out if there was anything he could possibly do to help out, when he paused. There was more arguing coming from the next room. "It's not like I'm telling you not to seek warmth, Albel. I'm just asking that you find it with a woman." Albel heaved a sigh. "Listen, old man. I'll sleep with whomever I like. And it's not like that room's ever been occupied before." "Then why go in there?" Woltar demanded. "Because, fool, it's right next to my own. After a trip to the water-closet, it's easy to get the wrong room when your tired." Albel spotted Fayt standing near the door to the study. "Come in, maggot." Fayt could tell Albel was peeved about the morning chew-out session, even as he shuffled into the room. He looked down at his leg, subtly letting Albel know there was something up with the brace. Albel made a small gesture for Fayt to sit a moment, then turned back to Woltar. "Anything else, grandfather, or will you and your senility be leaving us alone now?" Woltar noticed the brace on Fayt's leg, and how strangely it was made, and understood now why Fayt had been dragged to the house. It was because Albel had crafted the tool, and thus Albel was the only one who could fix it. "I'll be leaving." He exited the room, but stayed just around the corner to hear how the two interacted. Albel waited for a moment, then walked over to Fayt and removed the brace. Slipping the leather lining out, Albel gave it a tug to get the fold out before taking the bandage off Fayt's ankle. "Well?" Fayt asked. He noticed Albel's signal that they weren't alone, no matter what it looked. He checked the scar, then fit only the leather lining against Fayt's leg. "It would be wise to let it breathe a bit, worm." he said as he fit the brace back around the leather. Fayt nodded. "I'll be sure to do that." Albel stood. "I have training with the Black Brigade, so I'll be away all day, worm. Don't let Woltar bully you." Fayt blinked, then realized that last line had been meant for their hidden listener. "Yes, sir." Albel helped him up, and the pair headed out for breakfast. It was mostly just a roll and some soup, but it was warm, and filled the empty pit in one's stomach first thing in the morning. Albel was gone most of the day, and when he returned, he was in a foul mood. His glare made the servants run for cover, and he stalked strait to his room, slamming the door shut with enough force to break one of the window panes on the opposite side of the room. Stripping out of his clothes, Albel began to change when there was a knock at the door. "What, now?!" he snapped. "It's just me." came a rather timid voice. Albel sighed. "Come in." He shrugged his robe over as the Earthling came into the room. There was silence a moment as Albel retrieved a slightly warmer set of his standard clothing and stood behind the change wall to dress. "So, what happened?" Fayt asked. Albel paused. Fayt was asking how his day went? That was new. Still, he spoke. "My . . . uncle." he said, trying to pick his words carefully. "You have other family?" "Not directly." Albel admitted. "But he was like a brother to my father, and treated me like family after he was gone." "What about him?" "He's trying to pair me up." "Oh. And, how'd it go?" There was silence as Albel finished dressing. "I'm to meet her tomorrow." he said. Stepping out from behind the dressing wall, Albel sighed. "Why didn't you just tell him no?" Albel snorted. "Firstly, it was while council was in session." Fayt blinked. His uncle was part of the royal court? "And secondly, you don't say no to the king." Fayt was taken back. "The king's your uncle?" "As I said before, fool, it's not by blood. He and my father were like brothers." Albel shifted a little, as though he were nervous. "He told me not back out of being with her." "This doesn't sound good." said Fayt. "Do you want me to come with you?" "You'll be there, anyway. She'll be here tomorrow to acquaint herself with the house." Fayt frowned. "She's being forced on you?" Albel nodded. The next day came too soon for either young man. Albel decided he wasn't going to greet her at the door, but rather sit in the study and work. Fayt sat in a corner of the room, reading about the history of Ariglyph. That was when she flounced in. The girl herself looked well enough. She was clothed from head to toe in a pink dress, with a matching ribbon tying her hair back in a fancy updo that already didn't impress the head of the house. The bow centered over her ass didn't help anything, either. And then, she spoke, and even Fayt was pressed to not cringe. "Which of you two is Albel Nox?" she asked in a rather haughty voice. Albel stood. "That would be me." he replied. "Well, then, show me around the house." she demanded. Remembering what King Arigliph XIII had told him, Albel swallowed his desire to rip the woman appart and walked over. But he didn't touch her, only led the way out of the study. Fayt waited, still reading. He glanced up when Woltar came in, and casually asked, "So how's the forced date going?" "Albel's going to have to accept her." Woltar replied. "She comes recommended by the king, and you don't say no to . . ." "Witch!" came Albel's voice. "Get the hell out of my house!" "Oh, gods, no." Woltar groaned. He noticed Fayt move to leave the study and headed out himself. "You can't throw me out! I'm to be your wife." the girl snapped back. "I said out!" Albel snarled. His right hand was on the hilt of the Crimson Scourge, but it had yet to be drawn. There was something wrong in his stance, though. "The king said you and I were going to wed." the girl snorted. "And I want that damned portrait gone." "Get out." Albel growled, slowly drawing the katana from it's sheath. "None shall ever order me to do what I won't." "I am your . . ." "Leave, bitch!" Albel shouted, going to swing at her. And that was the end of that attempted match. She ran, leaving the house as fast as she could to try and put distance between herself and that madman. "Albel." Woltar snapped. "What is the meaning of this?" Albel turned his angry glare at the old man. "None of your business, old fool." "That was to be your bride!" Woltar argued. "You marry the wench, then!" Albel snapped. His breathing was heavily labored, and Fayt noticed he held his left arm against his side hard. The young Glyphian turned and stormed to his room, turning to let Fayt in before slamming the door and breaking yet another pane of glass in the opposite window. "You're going to run out of those, you know." said Fayt. "Albel, what's wrong?" The Glyphian was starting to gasp for his breath, and dropped to the floor. Fayt came and knelt awkwardly beside him, checking Albel over. "Just breathe, Albel. Come on, slow your breathing, or you'll faint." Fayt coached, pulling Albel up partially into his lap. He felt Albel start to relax a bit, then moan softly. "Something wrong?" Albel reached a hand over and undid his gauntlet, letting it slide from his arm. Parts of the skin looked cracked, and blood slowly oozed from the wounds. He sighed softly as the cooler air touched the flesh, but he couldn't get himself to move. It just felt safe with Fayt holding him at the moment. "Your arm's bleeding." Fayt said. "Should I bandage it?" Albel didn't answer. He was exhausted from hearing the girl bicker and complain about everything in the house, and then that final argument with both the girl and Woltar had just pushed him too far. The young man was asleep. When he woke, he found himself lying in bed, covered by a blanket. Turning his head, he noticed Fayt leaning on the side, watching him. "Glad to see you woke up." Fayt said, sitting up. Albel sat up, noticing immediately that his arm was bandaged. He touched the wrappings, only to wince. "Sorry if they're tight." Fayt apologized. "But you were bleeding, and I noticed you had no burn cream." Albel looked at him, then saw the small jar of salve in Fayt's hand. "I sent one of the maids to get some, and gave her the money." Fayt continued. "You'd passed out, and I had to ask Woltar to put you to bed. He wasn't happy, and made a point of telling me to stay out of your way of finding someone who would give you an heir." Albel sighed. "You're not in the way." he said softly. He carefully flexed his burned hand, and Fayt saw that there was only limited motion to it. "So, what caused the argument?" Fayt asked, trying to divert the conversation from it's awkward direction. "She wanted me to change almost everything in the estate." Albel snorted. "Stupid wench." He looked like he was going to spit at something in anger. "And she demanded that I be rid of my mother's portrait." Fayt bit his lip. "You have a portrait of her?" "In the grand hall. There's three, actually. One of just her, one of her and father when they were wed, and a family portrait over the fireplace. She wanted all three gone. When I told her no, she struck me. That's when I told her to get out." Fayt nodded. "I wouldn't take anyone who told me to get rid of anything about my parents, either." he said. As he stood, he realized the room might be a bit too cold. "Come on." Albel stood, slipping the gauntlet back on. "How long was I out?" "Good part of the day." Fayt replied, leading Albel out of the room and to the one to the right of it. "What?" Albel asked. "That room's too cold. We can share again, tonight." Fayt smiled. "I don't mind." 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Albel stayed with Fayt for most of the winter. Days not spent yelling and beating the proverbial shit out of the Black Brigade were spent with Fayt, often just talking idle nonsense about their pasts. Albel learned more of Fayt's past: he was a scholar, an honor student, and used to practice fighting for the fun of it before coming to the planet. His parents used to be researchers, and Fayt had often been at boarding houses for his schooling, only seeing his family on holidays. He'd never been one to make friends, but his personality just drew people to him. He'd been captain of the Battle Brigade at his high-school for a while, giving up the position in his last year so he could study. On Fayt's side, he learned that Albel was never one for studying anything, but had been a follower of Apris while his mother had been alive. Some of Albel's fighting skills actually came from part of his time as a follower, when he'd trained with the teachers. His other battle techniques had come from training with his father, after his mother had died. Initially intended to become one of his father's Dragon Brigade subordinates, his failure in getting a dragon had cost him three things; his father, his arm, and the hope of ever continuing his father's legacy. Pushed away from Woltar's Storm Brigade, and unwelcome in the Dragon Brigade, Albel had turned and defeated the existing captain of the Black Brigade in lethal combat, taking the leadership position by force, and had been dubbed Albel the Wicked since then for it. Fayt was starting to wonder if the winter was ever going to end when Albel took him out the one morning. They took a sled, since the roads were still covered in snow, and it wasn't really all that far from the capital city. "Where are we going?" Fayt asked, pulling his cloak tighter around him. "To Kirlsa." Albel replied. He was shivering just slightly, and grateful for the cold. The sled stopped, and he helped Fayt out. The pair shuffled along through the rough streets, until they came to a building where a girl was trying to sweep away the blowing snow from the doorway. Fayt wondered what this building was, until they stepped inside. The smell of bandages, primitive antiseptics, and the waft of various wounds left no doubt in his mind that this was a doctor's office. Or hospital. "Fayt Leingod, here to see Dr. Rip." Albel said to the nurse. The girl nodded. "This way." She led them to a room that was partitioned into three by curtains, and motioned for them to wait in the far back corner. "Why are we here?" Fayt asked. Albel leaned against the wall and folded his arms. "Your ankle, fool. Or have you forgotten that it was cut open by your use of faulty armor?" Fayt sighed and looked down at the brace. No, he hadn't forgotten. The scar was there, under a layer of linen bandages, covered by a leather liner and metal brace, currently shoved into a boot two sizes bigger than he needed in order to no freeze his toes off. Dr. Rip stepped behind the curtain, and Fayt recognized him as the one that had attended to the wound when he'd first gotten it. Sitting on the bed, Fayt removed the boot and brace, letting the doctor check his leg over. "Well, this is fascinating." said Dr. Rip, looking at the brace. "You've been walking in this?" Fayt nodded. "Yes, sir." "Well, you can move your foot around a bit, which is good, but I'd avoid any fighting until late summer. Come back then, and I'll re-evaluate it." Fayt nodded, fitting the brace over his ankle again. "Oh, and Mr. Leingod." "Hmm?" "Try walking around without the brace for a little every day. Some proper exercise for it will do the joint some good." With that, the doctor left. Fayt sighed, and was startled when Albel paid the nurse at the front for the services rendered. "So, what now?" he asked. Albel looked up at the sky. "It's too late to leave for the estate." Albel muttered. "Guess we'll stay at the inn." Fayt suggested. However, when the two arrived, Albel carrying Fayt on his back since the snow was starting to fall thickly, they found the inn packed. "I need to book a room, just for the night." said Fayt. He noticed Albel was standing fairly close to him, mostly because the Glyphian didn't like crowds. "There's only one room available, and it's a small single bed type." said the lady at the counter. "It'll work." said Albel. He was getting antsy, and as soon as they had their room key, he was dragging Fayt out of the crowded lobby. "Not in a good mood today?" Fayt asked once they reached the room. "That and the last four bitches to try and court me were down there, vile creatures." Albel shuddered. He made sure to put Fayt on the wall-side of the bed, sleeping with his back pressed against the Earthling and his sword within hand's reach. Fayt didn't mind, and fell asleep fairly quickly, cuddling close to Albel for warmth. However, a whimpering sound caught his attention late into the night. Blinking, he realized that Albel had moved away from him a little, and was curled closer in on himself. There was a bit of gasping, and more whimpers. "Damn." came a husky whisper. There was bit of panting, and Fayt's curiosity got the better of him. He grabbed Albel's shoulder and turned him onto his back, pushing the covers away as he did so. The Glyphian turned his head away, a deep blush covering his cheeks. He'd been caught trying to jerk himself off in order to release the stress in his heavily swollen manhood. "Albel." No answer. "Is this because we're sharing the same bed?" Biting his lip, Albel refused to answer, until Fayt forced him to look at the blunette. The pained look in his eyes said everything Fayt needed to know. Albel had feelings for Fayt, and couldn't tell his family or suitors because of the expectations placed on him. Fayt gently caressed Albel's face. "It's alright, Albel. I'll make it better." Gently kissing Albel's cracked lips, Fayt crawled down the bed some and grasped the thick cock that twitched nervously at Albel's waist. "What?" Albel asked, leaning up on his good arm. He dropped back with a hiss as Fayt carefully licked at the tip, sending a shock of pleasure up Albel's spine and back down to his balls. Fayt smiled a little, then licked the shaft along the bottom, swirling his tongue around the swollen head before folding his lips over it and giving a light suck. The hiss of pleasure from Albel made Fayt smirk, and he tried something else. Kissing at the head for a moment, Fayt ran his tongue down the shaft towards Albel's balls, then gently pulled at the skin with his teeth as he nipped and licked his way back up. Another pleasurable hiss. Albel was squirming a little, but not arguing with the actions. Nipping at the head, Fayt returned to kissing the tip before taking the whole thing in his mouth and giving a good hard suck. "Shit!" Albel hissed, his back arching. He'd never experienced anything like what was happening to him now. It felt strange, but good. That wet mouth slipping up and down on his aching cock felt warm and almost heavenly. The sucking was good, too. Fayt grinned, noticing the light blush still present on Albel's face. Carefully, he made Albel move his one leg so he had a bit better access to another area. Flicking his tongue out over the slit in the head, Fayt grinned at Albel before subtly licking his middle finger and slicking it in saliva. This was going to get good. Albel moaned. His mind was becoming hazy, and whatever Fayt was doing, it felt damned good. Fayt nibbled again at the head of Albel's cock, licking around it as his other hand felt for something else. There it was. With a quick plunge of his mouth over the throbbing organ, he thrust his finger deep into Albel's ass and prodded the Glyphian's prostate. Albel moaned and arched his back, his toes curling and throwing his head back in escastcy. The stroking finger inside him was almost enough to plunge him over the edge. Fayt smiled, moving his finger carefully over Albel's prostate as he kept suckling on the cock before him. Damn, Albel had a nice, musky smell to him. He kept sucking, kept prodding, kept working the Glyphian beneath him, reveling in the cries that came from the other. All at once, a warm, thick liquid came pouring into his mouth, and Fayt smiled, swallowing. "Sorry." Albel whispered, exhausted. He felt more than saw Fayt climb up beside him again, and turned his head towards him. "It's alright." Fayt replied. Right before kissing Albel on the lips and pushing his tongue into the others mouth, making Albel taste himself. "Goodnight." Albel made a face. Not only had Fayt apparently swallowed his cum, but he'd also just kissed him and made him taste himself. He shuddered and rolled over onto his side, unable to get any more sleep, the thoughts racing through his mind not allowing him any rest. `~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~` The Black Brigade was worried. Albel Nox looked like death warmed over. That meant extra exercises for them. And they were right. "Attack!" Albel shouted, and not for the first time. He'd been on edge since the night before, and images of Fayt sucking on his dick still flashed through his mind. He grumbled a bit, noticed one member slacking in his drills, and kicked him in the ass for it. The cold wind swirled the snow around the training ground, and the howling masked the sounds of Albel's grunts. He didn't mind the cold, it helped keep his mind off other things except the task at hand. Sadly, it also kept his mind off his fatigue. Fayt was looking over the balcony when Albel suddenly dropped like a stone. "Captain!" one soldier shouted. He turned Albel over, knowing of the reprimand he'd get should this be another drill. But when Albel didn't move, the soldier knew there was something wrong. Gathering his leader up, he made his way into the palace, to the room Albel stayed in when he was there. Another soldier headed off for the palace doctor, in case Albel was suffering any wounds. The doctor arrived and checked Albel over. The Black Brigade Captain didn't even respond to the prodding, only lay like a dead man. "What's wrong with him?" Fayt asked. "Fatigue is my guess." the doctor replied. "He's also got frostbite, so he's going to need to warm up." She pulled the blanket up over Albel, then turned to Fayt. "Keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't go into shock. If anything seems wrong with him, send for me, alright?" Fayt nodded and waited for the doctor and two soldiers to leave before walking over and sitting next to Albel's bed. He watched the captain, worried. What had caused Albel to become this tired? Why had he been out without his cloak? Was he trying to freeze to death? Albel shifted, but didn't wake. The day stretched on, and the shadows began to lengthen. Still, the Glyphian didn't wake. Fayt shivered as it got colder, and carefully removed Albel's gauntlet. The charred flesh still looked uncomfortable, and Fayt made sure it was tucked under the blanket. Removing the brace on his own leg, Fayt climbed into the bed and snuggled close to the soldier. Albel peered at him from a slitted eye, then returned to his sleep. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 The spring thaw came, and Nel and most of the others made the trek to Ariglyph to see Fayt and Albel. What they expected was a frazzled Fayt and a pissy Albel. What they saw was something totally different. Fayt was found sitting at the edge of the training grounds, cleaning the weapons and checking the bows and arrows. He looked up and waved the the others before turning and saying something to the person who was behind him. "You know, your understanding of the language has gotten better, lately." said the other. He looked slightly over Fayt's shoulder. "So, the maggot collection's back, huh?" Fayt snickered as he nodded, then turned back to Nel and the others. "You better not have made Mirage walk in that condition." he said, referring to the Klausian's now obvious belly. Albel stood and blinked at Mirage. He'd heard her say she was with child before, but thought that surely she'd been joking, given the fact that Cliff often pissed on his own foot when they were out and nature called. He spotted Sophia trying to edge closer to Fayt and decided it was time to drop a hint. "Well, my reprieve, I need to finish beating the maggots into shape before we return. Don't let that wench take what is ours." Nel narrowed her eyes at Albel, then looked at Fayt as the Glyphian walked away, scraping his claws against the stone. "Fayt, what did he mean when he said 'my reprieve'?" Fayt looked up at Nel and tilted his head slightly. He flipped his communicator back on. "What was that?" he asked. "Fayt!" Sophia squealed. "Oh, I was so worried about you." She tried to grab onto him in a hug, but ended up with only his arm. Still, she attempted to snuggle close in that sickly puppy-dog way. "How did your winter go?" "It went well." Fayt replied. "But you might want to let go, Sophia." "Why?" she asked in a whimpery tone. "Some things happened over the winter, and Albel's gotten a little defensive lately." Fayt replied. He wasn't going to say that he and Albel were secretly together, especially since it was still at the snuggles in bed and blow-jobs stage. "Is that why he called you his reprieve?" Nel asked. Fayt tilted his head. "He didn't call me that." he answered, finally getting his arm back from Sophia. "Really?" asked Maria. "It's what it sounded like to us." "Translators don't work on every word." Fayt countered. "What you heard on the translator and what I heard in Ariglyph language were two different things." "So what did he call you?" Sophia asked, trying to cling to him again. This was halted when a spear came sailing down the hall and landed in the wall between her and Fayt. "I said, my reprieve." said Albel, stalking over. "Now, I believe I said to stay away from clinging to him, wench." He took Fayt by the shoulder and moved him away from Sophia. "Lessons are over for the day, so we'd better head back." Fayt nodded. "The estate?" Albel looked back at the others, then shook his head. "The inn's closer." Fayt nodded. "Well, let's get to the inn." As they walked, Nel asked Fayt a few questions. "Is it true that the king is trying to get Albel married?" "Trying is the key word." Fayt replied. "He has high standards, and not one woman has managed to meet them." "I also heard rumor that he got sick over the winter." Nel continued. "It happens even to the best of us." Fayt returned. "I got sick, too." Albel stepped into the inn and chartered the rooms. "It'll be about a week." he said. "Any longer, and the fools will pay for their own rooms after this." "So, how are the rooms placed?" Maria asked as they sat in the common room. "Same as always, really." Albel snorted. "The two witches room together, the two lovebirds, and you're on your own." "So, your rooming with Fayt?" Sophia scowled. Fayt shrugged. "I don't mind. Cold winters do allow for people to get to know one another better." He followed Albel up to the bedroom. He wanted to try something, and switched off his translator so only those that actually spoke Ariglyph would know what was up. As he hoped, Albel waited for him to step in first. He waited until just after the captain had closed the door and turned before pushing him back into the door and kissing him. Albel stiffened at first. This was unexpected, but not unwanted. Fayt had been gentle and loving in his efforts to help Albel get comfortable with the relationship, and he'd been wondering when they were going to actually start kissing. He relaxed into the second kiss, putting his arms around Fayt and reciprocating the motions, gently sucking and pulling on Fayt's lower lip. Softly, he whispered that Glyphian phrase that made Fayt's body shudder. While it was true that the Terran translation would be 'reprieve', the actual word was from an older Glyphian dialect, and meant 'the one who holds me together'. Over the last two months since the doctor's trip, Fayt and Albel had gotten to know each other, and their feelings. Albel found Fayt a person to rely on, to cling to when he was about to loose himself, someone who didn't care if he swore his head off about his day and then collapsed into bed. Likewise, Fayt found Albel to be someone who would listen intently about the things he used to do. Like himself, the Glyphian didn't care if Fayt swore about his day, given that during training days he had to deal with Woltar. Albel's skills with the sword had yielded a few lessons in defense while down, giving Fayt the ability to at least protect himself should he ever be attacked. The pair had been learning each other's language, and could actually hold basic conversations without the use of the translator. No one else knew about these private lessons, and they didn't intend on letting anyone know until they could hold more complex discussions. Albel continued to kiss Fayt, and Fayt kissed him back, the pair slumping to the floor with Albel leaned on the door. "Fayt." Albel whispered between kisses. He sucked air when Fayt fondled his crotch. "Hmm?" Fayt asked, kissing Albel's neck. "You need attention?" Albel nodded. His body felt like it was on fire, even as Fayt helped him up and kissed him again. But a knock on the door stopped their passionate embraces, and had both men scowling at the door. "What?" Albel barked, forgetting that Fayt's translator was off. "Eep." That voice. It was Sophia. "Uh, Fayt?" Fayt looked at Albel, then walked over and cracked the door open, using his foot to keep Sophia from being able to push it open further. He noticed Albel take the door position, since it was still hard for Fayt to stand without the brace like he was. A good push, and Sophia would have him down anyway. "What is it, Sophia?" Fayt asked. "Well, um, Nel decided she was going to spend the night with Maria, so I'm all alone and, well, I don't want to be alone." Sophia replied. Why wasn't Fayt opening the door further? "I'm sorry, Sophia, but I can't just leave Albel here by himself." Fayt replied. "Why don't you sleep with that stuffed Bunnie you got last year?" "But I'm all alone." Sophia whimpered. "Can't Albel sleep by himself?" Albel grunted. "Sorry, but he's been getting nightmares lately, and I'm the only one of the group that can handle him during those." Fayt replied. "Trust me, they can get pretty violent." "So tie him up. Then it won't be a problem, right?" Fayt shook his head. "I'm not rooming with you, Sophia." he said. "Then I'm coming in." Sophia announced. She was just about to try pushing her way into the room when Albel let the door swing open wider, and he narrowed his crimson eyes at her. Fayt swallowed and tapped the translator on so Albel wouldn't be looked at like a fool. "Stay out of my room, wench, or I'll personally cut your hair off at the neck." he growled. Sophia tried to pull the 'I'm afraid and need you to comfort me' face on Fayt, but her look dropped into one of shock when Albel slammed the door shut on her face and there was a sound she didn't recognize coming from the room. Opening the door slightly, Sophia gasped and ran back to her room, crying. Albel pushed the door closed again with his free hand, still kissing Fayt. The two collapsed in the single bed together, tangled in the sheets, and fell asleep that way, cuddled close to each other. `~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~` "Sophia." said Cliff. "You look a wreck." The girl sniffled, but didn't say anything. What had Albel done to her beloved Fayt? Her entire night had be plagued with nightmares of Albel tying Fayt up, beating on him, and then forcing himself upon the innocent, frightened blunette. "He's right, Sophia." said Mirage. She sighed and rubbed her belly. "There, there. It's ok, little one." "Last night, I . . ." Sophia was quiet as Albel and Fayt came down the stairs. "Last night you what?" asked Maria. "Morning, you two." "Morning, maggot." Albel grumbled. He yawned, and Cliff was sure he caught sight of a bruise under the heavy collar Albel wore. He scowled at Sophia and decided to pull a mean trick. "So, the boogy-man get you, wench?" "Huh?" Sophia asked, sniffling. Fayt snickered. "He's referring to the snot-trails down your face." he clarified. "You might want to wash up." "Come with me?" she asked. Fayt shook his head. "I need to eat." "So, Albel, where'd the bruise come from?" asked Cliff. Albel finished his morning cup of mead and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "Combat, fool." "Really? She must have been one hell of a tiger." said Nel. Albel turned to glare at her. "Shut in, you Aquarian bitch!" he snarled. Taking his soup, he raised an eyebrow at the color, but ate it anyway. The brown in soup often differed by the bowl, anyway. Mirage looked at Cliff as the male Klausian started to snicker. "What? What's so funny?" Albel put a hand to his head. He suddenly felt dizzy. No, it couldn't be? He tried to stand, but had to catch himself on the counter. There had been something in the soup. Fayt hurried over, lending Albel his shoulder as support. "Come on, Albel." The Glyphian tried to step away from the counter, but his legs refused to work. He fell, dragging Fayt down with him. His cheeks were starting to get flushed, his breathing shorter and faster. Fayt glared at Cliff. "What did you do to him?" he demanded. Turning back to Albel, he noticed that Albel was starting to shift uncomfortably. "I'm the one who is to blame." said Woltar. "The serum should be in full effect soon, and then I'll introduce his bride." "Never!" Fayt shouted, pulling Albel up into his lap. "Forcing a woman on him isn't going to get him to marry, you old fool!" The others were startled. Wasn't that usually Albel's line? Maria caught sight of a flicker at Fayt's forehead. "Oh, no." she whispered. Walking over to Fayt, she picked the dead-weight Glyphian up. "Come on, Fayt. We should put him to bed and let him rest until this wears off." Fayt nodded and followed, noticing that Albel had gripped his hand, and wasn't letting go."It's alright, Albel." he said as the other was put to bed. "Thank you, Maria." "I'll let the others know that we won't be leaving today." Maria said. "We were supposed to go to Peterny to meet up with Pepitta and Roger, then go back through Arias to get Adray before going to the Spring Trade Festival at the border." "I'm sorry, but with what Cliff and Woltar pulled, I don't think we'll be able to go anywhere for a few days." Fayt sighed. He watched as Maria walked out of the room, and sighed again. Maria came down just as Sophia came back from cleaning up her face. "Where's Fayt?" Sophia asked. "He's attending to something." Maria replied. She grabbed Cliff by the ear and hauled him down to her level. "Now, what was it that you put in Albel's food?" "It was just a harmless love potion." Cliff replied. "Didn't look so harmless." said Nel. "Albel looked to be in a lot of pain from it, and Fayt reacted rather violently as well." "Huh?" asked Sophia. Mirage continued to rub her belly, tying to think of how to word things. She'd noticed that Fayt and Albel were acting a little different towards each other, and Fayt's outburst recently left no doubt in her mind that the two had gotten closer, perhaps even intimate. The problem was, Albel's handler was here and seemed to be the kind of person that would force the pair apart rather than let them have their moment of bliss. And there was Sophia, who was trying her hardest to make Fayt see only her, despite the number of brush-offs he gave her. This was quite a conundrum indeed. "I think it's best if we let Fayt and Albel be." Mirage said, looking at the others. "Everything will work out the way that they will in the end anyway, so why push things?" She smiled. Nel and Maria nodded, and Woltar did as well, but rather slowly. He knew that Albel was going to just fight back, no matter how hard anyone tried to get the boy married. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
(As a warning, this chapter is where it gets a bit steamy)  
Albel moaned, trying to fight the burning feeling coursing through his body. Tossing his head back, a whimpered cry came forth, and he tried to curl up on himself. Just what was in that soup?  
Fayt waited for Albel to stop moving for a moment, checking him for a fever. He'd never seen anyone suffer so badly before, and to watch the Captain of the Black Brigade reduced to a moaning, needy, and pathetic state was not a pleasant sight.  
There was a knock at the door, and Fayt stood to answer. "Oh, Mirage."  
The pregnant Klausian heard the groan from the bed inside the room. "How's he doing?" she asked.  
"He's in a lot of pain." Fayt replied.  
"I've gotten the others to leave the inn for the day, so do what you need to to help him, alright?"  
"Huh?"  
Mirage gave Fayt a gentle, knowing smile. "It's not my place to judge what kind of love is right or wrong, Fayt. Just . . . do what's right for you and Albel, alright?"  
Fayt's face turned a light red tinge, even as Albel writhed again in the bed, crying out from the pain.  
"I won't tell the others, alright?" Mirage said. "Besides, I think we're going to be at the doctor's today, anyway." She placed a hand on her belly and made a soft grunt. "Take care."  
"You too." said Fayt, watching her leave. Carefully, he closed the door and leaned on it, looking at Albel. The Glyphian was in pain, tortured from what had been in his food, and in desperate need of help. Fayt knew what he needed to do, but would Albel accept?  
Lying on his side and panting like a worn dog, Albel looked helplessly at Fayt. "It burns." he whispered. "Help . . . please." He writhed again, crying out.  
Fayt swallowed. He'd do it, no matter how much Albel struggled. It was the only way to burn the drug out of the system. Standing, he began to strip his clothes off, leaving them in a pile in the corner.  
Albel gasped and tried to push himself up at least to his elbows, only to collapse again. There was a cool touch against his neck, and the collar came off, followed by his half-shirt. Trying to turn himself over, he felt Fayt remove his boots and stockings, then the wrap around his waist. Why was this touch different? It sent his heart racing, made him want the touch more. Perhaps it was the drug, or was it something else? The loss of his braided undergarment left Albel moaning again, the cool air caressing his body and making him stop writhing, at least for the moment.  
Fayt rolled Albel onto his back, gently caressing the other's face. He hadn't said anything in the form of admittance to Albel, but he knew the other knew. Still, he wanted to voice it. "Albel."  
"Uh." The Glyphian moaned and tried to make eye contact. "Fayt."  
"My precious Albel, my reprieve, my love."  
Tears came to Albel's eyes. Love. Fayt had called him love. "Fayt." he whispered. "My . . . love." Another wave of strange sensations wracked his body, and he writhed. "Help me, love."  
Fayt held Albel's cheek for a moment, then climbed over the Glyphian and gently lay over him, pinning Albel with his weight before kissing him. "I'll do what I can." he whispered, kissing Albel again. "Let your voice carry, let your emotions out. Let that old fossil know you're being loved." he said between kisses. "Let them know who it is that loves you, Albel the Wicked."  
Albel moaned into the kisses, gasping as they trailed down his neck to his collarbone, where Fayt nipped and sucked on the flesh. The tender motions continued down his chest to a nipple, and Fayt bit it lightly.  
"Oh!" Albel wailed, his claw coming up and grabbing Fayt's hair. He reveled in the pain, but also liked the light suck Fayt gave it before doing the same with the other side.  
Fayt looked up. Albel was focused on what he was doing. Good, it would help. Continuing to kiss down Albel's abs, he reached the tanned and toned stomach, dipping his tongue into the other's belly button.  
Albel howled, letting go of Fayt's head. His legs were already spread, and the panting was making him show his body off just the right way to look sexy. But Fayt knew he was going to be Albel's first. He needed to prepare.  
Taking two fingers, Fayt trailed his hand up Albel's twitching body to his mouth. "Suck on them." he whispered, placing a bit of his weight over the Glyphian again.  
Albel's mind was already hazy, but he complied with Fayt's order. His tongue sucked and slithered around the fingers, coating them quite well in saliva. A soft whimper escaped him as Fayt pulled them from his mouth, but stopped when Fayt kissed him again.  
"I'm going to prepare you, Albel." Fayt whispered. "Breathe in."  
Albel did as he was asked, groaning as Fayt slid a finger into his ass. This intrusion wasn't new; Fayt often put a finger in to play with his prostate when they were sucking each other off. He moaned and wriggled his ass a bit as Fayt lightly caressed his insides, wincing and gasping as the second finger went in. That hurt.  
"Shh." Fayt whispered, kissing Albel's neck and chest, his hand caressing the leaking length between Albel's legs. "Relax, love."  
Another spasm of hormonal imbalance raced through Albel, and he writhed, driving himself down on Fayt's fingers further and moaning the other's name. The heat was getting unbearable.  
"Fayt, it burns."  
"Shh." Fayt kissed him, trying to be loving as he began to actually move his fingers inside Albel, twisting and curling them, scissoring them in order to coax Albel's body into a more ready state.  
"Fayt!" Albel whined. It was pathetic, really, how needy the young man had become, but Fayt attributed it to the drug that he'd ingested. Had it been any other time, and Albel might have been the one on top.  
Fayt kissed him again. "Alright, love. On your front." He retracted his fingers, rolling Albel over and putting the Glyphian's ass in the air.  
Albel whimpered and looked over his shoulder as Fayt poised himself behind him. There was something prodding at his ass, something thicker than Fayt's fingers. It pushed against him, and Albel stopped breathing.  
Fayt took his clean hand and hooked a finger into the other's mouth. "Breathe." he ordered.  
Albel gasped, unaware he'd stopped breathing. That's when the pressure started again, and he felt his ass spreading wider than he thought possible. He grunted, but when Fayt stopped, he growled in frustration. The heat in his body wasn't giving up, and the intrusion was inviting, to say the least. It seemed to answer his need. "More." he managed to gasp out. "I . . . need it . . "  
Fayt pushed more of himself into Albel, burying his cock to the fullest inside the the taller, but lighter, man. He paused when he was fully sheathed, waiting a moment for the man below him to adjust.  
For Albel, the pain was heavenly, almost. Fayt was inside him, holding his body open in a way that he'd only dreamed of. He was with, a part of, Fayt now. "Please." he whispered, he voice thick with want.  
Fayt took that as his cue and pulled back so he was almost out of Albel, then rammed back in. The howl of enraptured pain was enough to wake the dead, almost, as Albel threw his head back, reveling in the act. Doing this three or four more times, Fayt halted his movements and rotated his hips a bit, causing Albel another kind of pleasure.  
"Oh, Fayt." Albel cried. "Please, more."  
But Fayt remained still for a moment, leaning over Albel's back and kissing his shoulder blades. "Beg." he whispered.  
Albel whimpered. He had his pride, and Fayt was being cruel. But when the Earthling began to pull out of him, he panicked. "Please, Fayt. I need you." he sobbed.  
"Louder." Fayt whispered, leaving just the crown of his cock still in Albel. He had an idea that Woltar was on the other side of the bedroom door; he'd heard the boards creak from the hallway.  
"Fayt, I need you." Albel whined. "Please, impale me upon your cock, love me the way I need to be. Please, love, make me yours." Tears were now running down his face, he couldn't believe how cruel Fayt was being to him in his time of need.  
Fayt kissed Albel's neck. "Good boy." he whispered, right before ramming himself back into the Glyphian and causing a most delicious scream to come from Albel's throat. This time, he kept up the rapid pace, gripping one of Albel's wrapped ponytails and pulling a bit.  
Albel gripped the bed linens, gasping and moaning. He tried to turn his head, but Fayt yanked his hair, making him look back at the door. Again, Fayt stilled his thrusts.  
"Fayt, please?" Albel gasped. He began to shudder and whimper as Fayt pulled out of him, only to cry out sharply as he was turned over and pushed against the headboard. "Fayt?" he breathed, his mouth suddenly connecting with his lover's. He felt that wonderful pain again as Fayt slipped his cock back into Albel's ass, gasping when Fayt pulled back from their kiss.  
"I love you, so much, Albel." Fayt whispered, right before he drew back and plunged deep into Albel.  
The cry was one of ecstasy as Albel threw his head back, wailing. His hands found their way around Fayt's shoulders, holding his lover close as his ass was pounded. "Oh, Fayt!" he cried as his prostate was struck.  
Fayt was getting well into it. Having Albel crying beneath him, wanting only him, looking at him with teary red eyes that begged him to stay forever, it was wonderful. He continued to fuck the Glyphian, wrapping his hand around Albel's rock-hard arousal and pumping it with his thrusts.  
"Fayt!" Albel shrieked as he came hard across his front. There were only a few more thrusts before Fayt was filling Albel with his hot seed, screaming his name.  
"Fayt?" Albel whimpered, still on his endorphin high. His hands tangled into Fayt's hair as he held the other a moment before dropping unconscious.  
Fayt smiled as he pulled out of his lover. Albel looked so beautiful lying there, his own cum spattered across his chest and Fayt's leaking from his ass. Gently, he kissed Albel's forehead, then lay down beside him. There was no use trying to stand right now, he knew that much. It had been vigorous activity, even if it was just his hip and thighs moving. They'd wash up later.  
There was a loud knocking on the door that roused Fayt from his sleep. The sun outside was starting to set, casting an orange glow over the room. Albel still slept like the dead, his semen dried to his chest and abdomen, and Fayt's dried to his thighs and ass. The Glyphian shifted slightly and blinked as Fayt stood and put his pants on before answering the door.  
"Hmm?" Fayt asked. "Oh, hi Sophia."  
The brunette frowned at him. "Woltar said I'd find you and Albel here." she said, pushing the door open.  
Albel grunted, rolling over and pulling the bed covers over his shoulder. He really didn't want to face the girl. He just wanted more sex.  
"So what do you want?" Fayt asked, peeved that she'd come in without asking. He sat on the chair and began to fit the brace to his leg.  
"It's Mirage. She asked me to come get you two." Sophia pouted. She sniffed the room. "What is that smell?"  
Albel rolled over again, finally looking at her. "Get out, witch." he grumbled.  
"Why should I?" Sophia asked.  
"Unless you want to see naked Albel," Fayt began, but it was all that was needed. Sophia left the room, but waited by the door.  
Albel sat up and noticed the lengthening shadows. "Fayt."  
"Yes, Albel?"  
"What do we do now?" He looked concerned, and Fayt knew why. Albel's relationship wasn't going to be accepted in Ariglyph, since Fayt couldn't give Albel a child.  
"We'll keep quiet for now." Fayt replied. "I've got to go over a few things, but we'll make this work, alright?"  
Albel nodded. "What did the witch want?"  
"Mirage was going into labor when the group left the inn this morning. Sophia's been sent to get us, so I'm guessing that means the baby's born." Fayt replied.  
A few minutes later, Fayt and Albel were following Sophia to the clinic where Mirage was. "She's in the last room." Sophia said, still trying to figure out that smell.  
Albel swallowed as he followed Fayt down to the room. There were screams coming from other rooms, curses and threats to various parts of male anatomy that made him wonder if having children was worth the effort. Eventually, they reached the room.  
Cliff was standing outside, and he was frowning. "Hey." he said.  
"Hey, Cliff."  
"Maggot." said Albel, more in an effort to keep his image than anything else.  
"The doc said she was quick." Cliff said. "You can go in to see her, but I wouldn't linger too long."  
"Noted." said Albel, following Fayt into the room.  
The smell of blood and medical cleaning solutions was enough to almost make him heave. Still, he spotted the blonde woman sitting on the bed, propped up, and her belly flatter than it had been earlier.  
"Hi, Mirage." said Fayt.  
"Hey, Fayt." She smiled weakly, and seemed tired. "Good, you came too, Albel."  
The Glyphian carefully looked over the room. Something was amiss. "Where's the baby?" he asked softly.  
Mirage bit her lip, looking down.  
"Sorry." Albel turned away.  
"Don't go." Mirage said. "She's just not here right now."  
Fayt looked at Mirage. "She?"  
Mirage nodded. "A girl, small and strong. The nurse is just bathing her right now."  
"Oh." Albel leaned on the wall near the door.  
"Come here." said Mirage. "I don't bite."  
Albel looked a little uncomfortable as he walked over.  
"Sit." said Mirage. She nodded to someone behind Albel, and the nurse came in with the baby.  
The nurse was a bit hesitant, but handed the child to Albel, standing nearby in case she had to take the child quickly.  
As for Albel, he just kinda stared at the small person that had been placed in his arms. There had been an extra blanket wrapped around the baby so his claw and armor wouldn't hurt her, and she seemed to look up at him with amazement and wonder. Like her parents, the baby had golden locks, and bright blue eyes. She seemed to have a sense of knowing, and blew spit-bubbles at Albel that made him smile.  
"Um, can you take her back?" Albel asked after a moment.  
The nurse came and took the baby, handing her to Mirage for the mother to nurse.  
"So, what's her name?" Fayt asked.  
"Miracle." Mirage replied, covering her front with a blanket so her daughter could nurse in peace. "Albel's looking better."  
The Glyphian swallowed a bit and stood, nervous.  
"It's alright, Albel." Mirage smiled. "I don't have any misgivings on your relationship with Fayt. If it were up to me, I'd give you my blessing."  
Albel looked at her. "But . . ."  
Fayt just smiled. "Thanks, Mirage." There was silence a moment. "Um, did you ever get a chance to look at the Creation notes?"  
Mirage shook her head. "I'm sorry, Fayt."  
"It's alright. Once your ready to go, we need to get the others, anyway." Fayt looked over and saw Albel just kinda standing there, lost. "I think we need to go."  
"Take care."  
"You too." Fayt and Albel left the room, noticing first that Cliff had moved to the common room to talk to the others.  
"So?" Cliff asked. "She's a cutie, ain't she?"  
"She's adorable." Fayt replied.  
"So, which one of you got to hold her?" the new father asked. "Cause she wouldn't tell me which of you it was gonna be."  
Albel spoke. "It was me, fool."  
There was dead silence.  
"You?" asked Sophia and Maria.  
"Yes." Albel only looked out the window.  
"But, why?" Nel asked.  
"Ariglyph custom." Albel replied.  
"Huh?" asked Fayt.  
"She was probably told by the doctor. If you want your child to be strong, you ask for the Captain or Lutenant of a Brigade to come and see your child. If he holds them, the child will be strong." Albel replied. He looked at Cliff. "She's the first one I've ever held."  
Cliff blinked. "You turned down that privilege before?"  
"No." Albel replied. He hated that they were trying to get him to talk. He just wanted to get back to the inn and let Fayt do him again.  
"You look tired." said Nel. "Perhaps we should return to the inn."  
Albel glanced out the corner of his eye at her, but when Fayt agreed, he didn't argue and followed them back. He was more wary of the supper stew, especially since Woltar was there again, and didn't eat, shuffling back up the stairs to his room.  
"What's eating him?" Cliff asked. He dug into his food like a starved animal.  
"Probably the fact that Woltar's here." Fayt replied, finishing his one bowl. He stood and noticed Sophia was sniffing the air again. "What?"  
"It smells weird in here." Sophia replied.  
"Probably the laundry that's piled in the basket to be washed tomorrow." Nel replied. "Come on, we'd better get some sleep."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
(This chapter makes reference to one of my earlier stories, The Unfortunate Eldarian. Please take the time to read it, too.)  
Albel paced around the carriage. The prior day's activities were still fresh in his mind, and while he hadn't been sore yesterday, walking alone was nearly killing him today. Sitting hurt, walking hurt, standing hurt. It was everything he could do not to curl up in a little ball in the back of the carriage and whimper, and it took a lot to make Albel the Wicked want to do that in the first place.  
"He looks off again, today." said Nel, turning to face Fayt. "Did something happen yesterday that we're not aware of?"  
"Yes and no." Fayt replied, collecting the item creation book from Welch.  
"He looks like his ass is sore." said Cliff. He had to dodge Albel's fist seconds later, but also had to catch Albel when the young man stumbled and fell over. "Hey, Albel?"  
The Glyphian just hung over Cliff's arm, his energy all but spent thanks to Woltar being around at breakfast that morning. He was panting slightly, and didn't argue when Cliff put him in the carriage.  
"What's wrong with him?" Sophia asked. "Isn't he usually grumpy and angry about everything?"  
Fayt shook his head. "Albel hasn't been able to eat anything since Woltar and Cliff put that drug in his food yesterday. And there's something else."  
Maria raised an eyebrow. "Would this have anything to do with the smell?" she asked.  
"Depends." Fayt asked.  
"The smell of sex?" Maria ventured. "It's all over both of you."  
Fayt chanced a glance at Albel, noticing the other had dozed off. "Yeah. There's only one way to help someone under the influence of that drug, and Albel desperately needed the help."  
Mirage walked over, the baby bundled snugly in her arms, and climbed into the carriage. "Come on. Pepitta and Roger aren't going to wait forever."  
The others climbed into the carriage as well, and it drove off on it's way to Peterny. Fayt sat closest to Albel, seeing as how the other had been seated on the floor, and tried to ignore the conversation going on. Basically, Sophia was trying to figure out from the others, who had no idea either, why Fayt and Albel would smell like sex.  
Fayt opened the record book for item creation, trying to see if he could find a way to solve the one major problem in his and Albel's relationship: how to get a man to bear a child. He'd heard of it happening before, on one of Earth's earliest exploration ships, the SRF-003 Calnus, under the direction of Captain Edge Maverick, the designer of the UP3. The recipe had accidentally been used on a male member of the crew, and he'd become pregnant with another man's baby, birthing through the reinforced anal tract when delivery time came.  
"Fayt? Fayt!" Sophia snapped, waving her hand in his face.  
"Hmm?" Fayt looked up from the book. "What is it, Sophia?"  
"So you hired a whore for Albel, right?" Sophia asked. "But you didn't leave the room, so that's why you smell, too, right?"  
Fayt gave her a quizzical stare. "Where'd you come up with that?" he asked. "If there had been a girl in that room, Woltar would have been thrilled, don't you think?"  
"Hmm, I guess so. So, then what happened?"  
"Not telling." Fayt said, returning to the book. There it was, the original recipe, and the name of the creator. Faize Sheifa Beleth, and apparently he was also the unwitting victim. The notes said the recipe worked on a species called Eldarians, and there were a few footnotes on how to alter the process to work for Featherfolk, Felpool, and Earthlings. All Fayt had to do now was gather the ingredients, and make sure that Albel would be ready and capable of being the dominant for at least one fuck.  
The carriage came to a halt, and Albel grumbled from his place on the floor.  
"Come on, Albel. We're in Paterny." Fayt said.  
Albel just sighed. "As long I can get food." he grumbled. "Worthless maggot, dumping me on the floor. What kind of an ass does that?"  
Fayt snickered. "At least your starting to sound like your old self again."  
"Fayt!" Pepitta came running over, Roger following behind. "How was your winter, Fayt? Did you spend it with Sophia?"  
"My winter was fine, and I was in Ariglyph, so no, it wasn't with Sophia." Fayt replied. He blinked and looked Pepitta over. "You've grown."  
"Of course I've grown!" Pepitta said matter-of-factually. "I'm 15 now!"  
"Well whoop-de-do." said Albel, still looking like death warmed over. "I'm hungry."  
Fayt snorted back a laugh. "Come on, I'll feed you."  
It turned out that Albel's hunger wasn't ordinary. He craved one thing in particular: meat pie. It was a good thing that those kinds of pies were currently available in abundance, and Fayt was able to obtain several for dinner that night.  
Fayt watched as Albel sat away from the others after the meal. "Hey, Cliff."  
"Yeah, what is it?"  
"That drug you and Woltar gave Albel. Did you craft it on your own?"  
"Yeah. Here's the recipe." Cliff handed Fayt a badly scrawled out note. "Why? Something on your mind?"  
"Uh, just wondering." Fayt looked over the note. Ten Aquaberries, three big berries, four red sage, a drop of honey, and two drops of oil. The recipe looked familiar. Taking out the item creation book, Fayt flipped through for items using Aquaberries. There were only two. The male pregnancy potion and a kind of make-up. He looked up the make-up, but aside from the oil, nothing was the same.  
"Oh, please, no." Fayt groaned as he looked up the other. He sighed, closing the book rather quickly and making the others jump. "This is not what we needed right now." he growled.  
Albel looked at him out the corner of his eye, then went back to fixing the small crack in his boot. Working on his tools of warfare was comforting, but not as much as having Fayt by his side at night.  
"Fayt, is something wrong?" Sophia asked.  
"Not yet, it isn't." Fayt replied. He looked at Mirage. "How fast can the Diplo be here?"  
Mirage looked at Fayt, then at the book in his hand. "If I put out the call tonight, it can be here in about a week."  
"Good." Fayt sighed. "Until then, there's to be no combat, alright."  
Albel looked up. What was wrong with Fayt? "And why would that be, fool?"  
Fayt decided to keep it vague. "A recipe got used, and until I can check each of us with the equipment on the Diplo, I won't know who's been affected by it. It's supposed to make combat nearly impossible, and I can't risk loosing any of you guys."  
Cliff and Nel nodded. "Sounds fair." said Nel. "We can't suddenly have someone freeze up or unable to defend themselves."  
Pepitta yawned. "Well, I'm going to bed." she said. "Night."  
Albel yawned as well and got up. He looked at Fayt and made a slight motion for the blunette to follow. The pair headed up to their shared room, and Albel pinned Fayt to the door, kissing him harshly.  
"Albel . . ." Fayt mumbled through the kisses.  
"I need you, Fayt." Albel whispered, kissing him again. His breaths had become short and needy, and he kissed down Fayt's neck. "Please, Fayt? Can we do it again?"  
Fayt moaned as Albel licked at his neck. While he knew what the potion had been, he was fast getting hard and wanting to ram Albel into the mattress. Pulling only the bottoms off his lover and dropping his own pants down around his ankles, Fayt pushed his lover down into the bed.  
Albel's chest heaved. Why was his body so hot again? He felt like a whore, begging Fayt to screw him, but he didn't care. He spread his legs, holding himself open for Fayt.  
"You're beautiful." Fayt whispered before pushing his hard cock into the other's ass.  
Albel moaned, his breathing getting sharper as Fayt started fast and rough. His hands found there way around his lover, and he kissed him repeatedly, trying to keep his voice down as they heard Mirage and Cliff walk past, and Nel and Sophia take their room, which was right beside them.  
"I love you." Albel whispered between kisses. To hell with what others thought. Albel the Wicked was Fayt Leingod's bitch, and he loved it.  
`~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~`  
Everyone sat nervous on the Diplo. The ship had actually taken two weeks to arrive, and it had been two weeks of hell. Albel, antsy and itching for a fight after just one week, had started snipping at everyone. While they weren't physical, he was certainly good at throwing the insults and driving an argument to the point where either Adray or Cliff wanted to slug him.  
Fayt was their only saving grace to these fights, often taking Albel off to the side, away from the others and out of most people's sight so he could kiss the Glyphian into submission. Soft promises of sex, or gentle caresses often settled Albel's mood, and made him somewhat more tolerable.  
Now, they waited as Fayt did what seemed routine blood-work on each of them. Albel was in the corner, reading the dictionary of all things, and trying to figure out how to insult Cliff with the new words he was discovering.  
Fayt stepped back into the room, the tests over with. "Albel." he called.  
The others watched as the male stood, dropping the book squarely on Cliff's crotch, and walked over to where Fayt was. The pair disappeared into the small medical facility, and the door locked.  
"Something's up." said Sophia.  
"Indeed." said Adray. "It's like he's hiding things."  
Nel eyed the larger man. "What could he be hiding?" she asked, wondering if Adray had come to the same conclusion she had.  
"I have no idea." the larger man said. "You only collected me three days ago, so I haven't been able to observe as much as you have."  
"He keeps ignoring me." Sophia whimpered.  
"He's in love." said Mirage, catching the others attention.  
"What?" asked Cliff.  
Nel smiled slightly. "Which one?" she asked.  
Meanwhile, Fayt sat Albel down on the examining table. "Albel, I need to tell you something."  
The male looked at him. What could bother his beloved Fayt like this?  
"Your pregnant."  
Albel blinked at him. "Fayt, this isn't a nice joke." he said.  
"I'm not joking." Fayt said. He held out a page to the other. "I translated it for you."  
Albel's face paled when he saw the results staring him in the face, and his breathing got quicker. He was, without a doubt, going to have a child. He looked at Fayt. "How did this happen?"  
"That potion Cliff and Woltar gave you wasn't what they thought it was."  
Albel looked down. "But, then is that why you were looking through the item creation book?"  
Fayt shook his head. "No. I had no idea that what you'd ingested was the male pregnancy potion. I was looking through to see if I could find one that would work so I'd be the one pregnant. I wanted you to have children, Albel, and I was willing to be the one to go through this. But when I asked Cliff if he'd created the potion he and Woltar had used, he said yes and handed me the recipe. I looked it up in the book, and it matched the one I'd found. And, well, we'd already had sex, and I was worried. That's why I asked Mirage to call the Diplo, so I could see if anything had happened. And, it did."  
Albel was quiet for a moment. "Now what?" he asked.  
"I'm not sure." Fayt replied. "But I'm here for you, whatever you choose to do, alright?" He walked over and held Albel close as the Glyphian cried. His beautiful, strong, independent Albel was reduced to a crying mess, unsure of what to do because of one stupid idiot's mistake in item creation.  
It took an hour before Albel's sobs subsided, and even then, it was only because he'd exhausted himself. Fayt left him lying on the medical bed, pocketing the sheet with Albel's results. As he left the room, Fayt could feel eight sets of eyes staring at the back of his skull.  
"What?" he asked as he turned, more than just a little pissed.  
"Why'd you call Albel back in?" Sophia asked. She didn't look happy.  
"There was something wrong with Albel's results." Fayt replied. "I needed to tell him."  
"Couldn't you have told him out here?" asked Nel.  
"No. It wasn't something for everyone to hear." Fayt sighed. "Why are you staring at me like that, Sophia?"  
"The others say you're in love." Sophia said plainly. "It's not with me, is it?" That last part was more a statement than a question.  
"No, it's not with you." Fayt said. "You're my cousin, and I care about you, Sophia, but it'll never be more than that."  
Sophia nodded. "It's Albel, isn't it?" she asked.  
Fayt sighed. "Yeah."  
"And the reason for calling him back in had something to do with the blood-work?" Nel asked.  
"Yeah." That voice. Albel was standing behind Fayt, arms crossed, looking a little lost.  
"What's wrong?" Adray asked.  
"First," Albel walked over to Cliff, "I want to slug you for drugging my soup that day." He pulled back and nailed Cliff one in the jaw hard. "And secondly, I need to thank you."  
Everyone just kinda stared.  
"Without what you did, Woltar may have gotten his way." Albel smiled and looked back at Fayt. "I'm keeping it."  
There was silence for a moment, during which Mirage accidentally diapered Roger instead of the baby and put him in the playpen.  
"Baby's here, Mirage." said Pepitta. She giggled when she saw Roger sitting in the playpen, unsure how to get out.  
"You sure, Albel?" Fayt asked.  
"Yeah." Albel replied, turning and putting his arms around his beloved, leaning their foreheads together. "Because it's our future."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
Woltar didn't know what to do when Albel came home rather suddenly, trailing the rest of the group behind him.  
"Master Albel, there is a lady waiting for you. You're bride-to-be." said a maid.  
"Tell her to leave." Albel said, grinning wickedly. "I have someone."  
Woltar blinked. Had his grandson really just said there was a woman in his life? "Who is she, Albel?"  
The Captain blinked at Woltar, confused. "What?"  
"I asked who is she? Your bride?"  
"When did I say I had a bride?" Albel was seriously confused. Especially since he was holding Fayt's hand.  
"But . . ."  
"I said I have someone." Albel said. "And, though it may pain you and the king, it's not a woman."  
Woltar glared at Fayt. "It's this thing?" he demanded. "I will not allow it!" He went to strike Fayt, but Albel got in the way. The strike landed him against the wall, just lying there.  
"Albel!" Fayt ran over and helped his beloved up. "That's going to leave a mark."  
"And he shall change the Nox Family forever. Chaos and death shall follow in his wake, until an Angel takes him." Albel said, looking at Woltar. "I killed my parents, and lead the Black Brigade on it's bloody path for years. And now, I have my Angel." He turned and kissed Fayt, making sure it was obvious to Woltar that he loved the Earthling.  
"The king will surely strip you of your rank and position." Woltar argued.  
"Oh, about that." Albel pulled out a note that he'd obviously worked on for a while for it to be a legible as it was. "Please see to it that His Majesty gets this."  
Woltar stared. "This is a letter of resignation." he scowled.  
"Exactly." Albel replied. "How else am I to settle into a family life, even if it isn't what you wanted, if I'm always away? Even my father took a year away to spend time with my mother when they were wed."  
"You are not marrying this . . . this . . ."  
A pair of wings appeared behind Fayt, the only part of his power he'd managed to be able to control. "I am his Angel." said Fayt. "And we will be wed." He smiled softly.  
Woltar frowned. There seemed no way to dissuade Albel from this destructive way of life. "Fine, but you will not receive my blessing on this."  
Albel nodded. "That's fine. But until you accept this, you're no longer welcome in my estate."  
Sophia watched as the elder Nox left the estate. "Well, now what?" she asked.  
"Now, we have a wedding to plan." said Fayt. He leaned close to Albel and gave him a kiss.  
`~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~`  
The King of Ariglyph was disappointed that Albel wasn't going to marry a woman, but was rather marrying the Angel of Destruction known as Fayt Leingod. So he gave his blessing to the marriage, and said he would be present for the union.  
Since both were male, they had a hard time figuring out how things were going to go. Neither had family left, really, so the traditional one given to the other wasn't going to work. Secondly, even if it was Albel's name Fayt was going to take, Albel was the girl in the relationship at the moment. There was the issue of how to dress as well.  
Nel managed to solve that one, clothing both men in similar styled clothes of a half-shirt and dress-pant style with a sheer over-jacket that also served as a veil for both of them. Albel's was edged in red, Fayt's in blue.  
The wedding party was another problem. Who was going to be part, and who would hold the sermon? No priest in Ariglyph would do the ceremony. That answer came from the king. He would solemnize the union for them.  
As for the wedding party, they figured on Mirage and Cliff, Nel and Maria, and Sophia and Pepitta, in that pairing setup. The two Klausians would stand in as the Best Man and Matron of Honor for the signing. The colors for them were set up the same way as Albel and Fayt's clothes.  
Decorations were simple enough. With his dexterity and speed as a Menodix, Roger was able to get the streamers and hanging lanterns up with Adray's help.  
Everything was ready.  
However, the morning of the wedding, Albel was found vomiting heavily. He looked up as Nel came in to help him prepare. "Is Fayt alright?" he asked as he fit the sheer over-jacket on.  
"Yeah." Nel replied. "He's a bit nervous, but he wasn't outright puking like you were."  
Albel paused, unknowingly placing his hand over his hardening abdomen. The others didn't know, yet, but soon it would start to be a question, and then blatantly obvious. Two of nine months had already passed him and Fayt by, and he sighed.  
"Albel, is something wrong?" Nel asked. She touched his hand, snapping him out of his reverie.  
"Sorry." He swallowed and straitened his clothes. "I'm ready."  
Nel shook her head. "Not yet."  
"Huh?" Albel looked at Nel as the red-head placed a red flower in his hair. "I'm not a girl." he said.  
"No, but Fayt's wearing one in his hair as well, and I thought it'd be perfect if you had one, too."  
Albel nodded and joined Fayt at the doors to the Main Hall of the Nox Estate. The music began, and the procession made it's way down the hall to the front. And so, before those that had gathered, including the Queen of Aquios, Albel and Fayt were wed.  
`~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~`  
It was about a month later that Nel and Sohpia pulled Fayt aside.  
"Yeah?" Fayt asked.  
"Albel's been sick a lot lately." said Nel.  
"And you haven't let them send the Diplo very far away." Sophia continued. "In fact, Maria said you asked the Diplo to actually land here at the Nox Estate!"  
"Sorry, but . . ." Fayt sighed. "It's just so I can make sure he's alright."  
"What is wrong with Albel that it would require you _grounding_ the Diplo?" Sophia asked.  
Albel sighed loudly, standing behind the girls. He wasn't wearing his traditional clothes, but rather a more complete set of Ariglyph men's wear. "Fayt." he said.  
"Yes, love?"  
"They're asking, too?" he asked.  
"Yeah."  
Albel sighed again. "I guess there's no denying it, then." he said. "I'm just concerned about what to do with big-mouth Roger."  
"I have a cage we can always put him in if the need arises." said Nel.  
"Might want to put him in there first." said Albel. He covered his mouth again rather suddenly and swallowed. "Oh, that's unpleasant."  
Roger looked at Fayt as he was put in the cage. "What's the big idea?" he asked. "Does this have to do with Albel being sick?"  
"It has everything to do with it." Fayt replied. The rest of their group was gathered together, but Albel wasn't looking well.  
"So, what's wrong?" asked Nel.  
"I'm pregnant." Albel said flatly.  
The responses were . . . varied, to say the least. The most immediate ones were from Nel, Adray, and Sophia, which was a collective "What?" Cliff fell out of his chair from the shock, and Roger sat down in his cage. Mirage and Maria just kinda sat there, mouths open, staring at the Glyphian. Pepitta's reaction was to stand up and walk over, then hug Albel.  
"Congratulations." said Pepitta, looking at Albel's stunned face. "May this dream be the best one yet." It was her way of saying 'I wish you the best'.  
"How'd this happen?" Nel asked. "He's a guy, right?"  
"It's Cliff's fault." Fayt said. "He's the one that drugged Albel that day."  
Things began to click into place. "So, you stayed behind." said Sophia. "Mostly because you already loved Albel, but also because he needed help."  
Fayt nodded.  
"And you fucked him." said Cliff.  
Albel growled at him, but said nothing. There was another wash of gross feeling, and he swallowed.  
"But why did Albel need sex?" Maria asked.  
"It's the potion that was made. The initial creator was from an unknown species called Eldarian, but there were notes in the item creation book for alterations for Earthlings, Felpool, and Featherfolk." Fayt replied. "There are different side effects for each species, but humans have an intense need for sex."  
"So, that's why you looked lost right before your wedding." said Nel. "You were thinking about your baby."  
Albel nodded. "It's been about three months, and it's kinda starting to show."  
"It's alright." said Roger from his cage. "I'm not understanding much, but basically, for now your a girl until the baby comes, right?"  
Fayt and Albel looked at each other. "Kinda, yeah." Fayt said.  
"So that means we have to protect you until the baby comes." Easy logic, really, coming from Roger, but it's how he understood things.  
"I guess that's one way of putting it." Fayt said. "The thing is, the only place Albel will be able to safely have the baby is the Diplo, since the equipment there can help if there's a problem."  
"So, that's why you asked me to ground the ship." Maria nodded. "Ok, we'll help out so Albel can have a safe pregnancy."  
Albel swallowed. Why did he feel bad about this?  
`~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~`  
Albel sat by the window, looking outside listlessly. He was now into his fifth month, and normal clothes just didn't fit anymore. Absolute refusal to wear a dress had placed him in loose pants and rather large shirts. The light summer sun was coming in through the window, but it wasn't what was on Albel's mind.  
Fayt stood in the doorway, his leg brace removed for the time being, since the doctor said to try walking without it for a while each day. He watched Albel sit there, and wondered if his love was alright. "Albel?"  
"Hmm?" He looked back at Fayt, then down at his expanding stomach.  
"You seem to be thinking hard, love. is something wrong?"  
"Names." Albel replied. "I was trying to think of names." He placed a hand on his stomach, sighing softly.  
"Active?" Fayt asked, sitting beside Albel. The other nodded.  
"Fayt." Albel's voice seemed a little frightened. "What's going to happen?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"There's nothing I've found about a man birthing." Albel continued. "I'm . . . I don't want to be cut open."  
Fayt put a hand on his lover's shoulder. "Albel, the baby has to come out, and according to the old texts I found, all of the people who've had to do this managed to birth."  
Albel looked at Fayt, and the blunette could see there was still some concern.  
"The baby's going to come out you ass." Fayt clarified. "It'll be alright. I'll be there for you, ok?"  
Albel nodded. "About names?" he said. "I had one in mind, for a girl."  
"Ok, what is it?"  
Albel looked at his hands. "Garnet." he replied.  
"It's beautiful." Fayt said. He placed his hand partially on Albel's, so his palm was resting on his husband's belly. "Any ideas for a boy's name?"  
"Not yet."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
Fayt was out of the brace and allowed back into combat by late summer. He worried about Albel, though, who didn't leave the house anymore, unless it was to walk in the small garden. The pregnant male had become somewhat docile, and it scared the others. They were used to Albel being snippy, argumentative, and downright grumpy most of the time.  
Mirage had said that the change in Albel's mood was because of hormones, and that he'd be back to normal after the child was born. In an effort to help prepare Albel, or at least Fayt, for parenthood, she brought little Miracle with her.  
Nel had come to the realization that Albel and Fayt's baby was going to come mid to late fall, and that warm blankets and food were going to be desperately needed. Talking mostly with Clair (but not letting her know the expectant mother was Albel Nox), Nel tried to make sure that there would be sufficient food sources for whomever was going to nurse the child. She herself worked at making a soft blanket for the baby.  
Albel, for the most part, seemed to fuss over the room the child would be staying in. His chest had swollen a little, but he wasn't sure he would be able to feed the child. The room was set up with the cradle, a bed for in case they needed to obtain a wet-nurse, a chair and rocking chair for spending cuddle time with the baby, and a few things the others thought might be needed. Some of the items were kinda laughable.  
Roger had collected his buddies, and they'd carved a few wooden creatures and put them on strings to hang near the crib. They were simple things: a mouse with a string tail, a cat, a dog, and a bird, but Albel and Fayt found it endearing that Roger had put aside his clumsy attempts at being grown up to make it.  
Pepitta had asked for help from the rest of the Rosetti Troupe to make clothes for the baby, from newborn to about a year old, and had delivered the rather vast collection to the Nox Estate. Most of the clothes were neutral, but there were a few dresses for if the baby was a girl and some obviously boy clothes as well. Again, Albel and Fayt had thought the gesture to be sweet.  
Cliff had helped assemble the cradle, saying that Albel shouldn't lift so much when he was expecting. He'd also left a book for them to read with the baby.  
Adray's rather unique gift of an actual stuffed bear (with glass eyes) left both men wondering if Adray had wrestled and killed the same bear in order to get it.  
Sophia didn't seem to fuss that much, but rather observe and keep a list of things on hand. She also noticed that Fayt and Albel seemed to be forgotten in the joy of the baby coming, so she started to collect a few things so they would be able to spend time together afterwards. Some of these items included lotions, since Albel's stomach was greatly swollen and would need extra care for the stretch marks.  
For her part, Maria made sure the Diplo was ready for when Albel would be in need of it's medical facilities. The room was prepared for almost any emergency, from an ordinary birth to having to do a C-section and reviving Albel and the infant.  
Fall came, and Albel grew even more nervous. He stayed with Fayt mostly, and Mirage routinely checked on him to make sure he was alright.  
Albel fell asleep during one of the check-ups, and Mirage looked at Fayt with a bit of worry.  
"What is it?" Fayt asked.  
"Have you told Albel yet?" Mirage asked.  
"About what?"  
"That the potion he was given is very effective at having twins formed." Mirage replied. "He's carrying two, Fayt."  
Fayt looked at his sleeping lover. "Twins?" he asked. "But, there was nothing in the item creation book that mentioned that."  
"No, but they turned up in several other records. There's also more to Albel than meets the eye."  
"What do you mean?" Fayt asked.  
"I took the liberty of doing random tests on other people from Ariglyph with my scanner, and then scanned Albel. One of his parents came from a different strain than those here in Ariglyph. So I checked people from Aquaria, and their strains didn't match, either, though the ability for Runeology, or Symbology, is stronger in Aquarians that Glyphians. I checked Woltar, and from that figured that Albel's father was definitely a native Ariglyph male. So the change in strain came from his mother. When I asked Woltar about it, he said that Albel's mother wasn't from Ariglyph initially, but from another country. Since she was a believer of Apris, he assumed she was from Aquaria."  
"So, what does that mean?" Fayt asked.  
"Well, Maria and Cliff were sent out to Greeton and Surferio to figure out if there are any abnormalities out there to find the reason for the strange difference in Albel. They should be back soon."  
Just then, Cliff and Maria returned. "He's sleeping?" Cliff asked.  
"Yeah. He needs the rest." Fayt replied.  
"Good." Cliff handed his findings to Mirage, as did Maria.  
"Hmm. There's no real variances that would warrant the dramatic DNA change in Albel. So, she wasn't from Greeton or Surferio, either."  
"There was a small group of nomads that I found." said Cliff. "They were wanderers, adept at Symbology, and they called it that, too. There was only a small number of them, but they kinda looked like Albel, here."  
"What did they call themselves?" Fayt asked.  
"That's the thing. My translator could only do a basic translation of their native tongue, but the one girl spoke either Arigliph or Aquarian, and told me they were called Thans. They trade their skills in hunting and smithery for food and supplies, and didn't like the fact that I was poking around their camp." Cliff replied. "One of them said that her daughter had traded herself in Ariglyph years ago so they could get some supplies, and hadn't seen the girl since."  
"Did you ask who she was traded to?" Fayt asked, getting a little excited.  
"Yeah. She said it was a man on a dragon, a Duke Nox. I'm betting that girl was Albel's mother." Cliff replied. "But there's no way of knowing for sure."  
"Well, the data you managed to pick up about the Thans on your scanner indicates that his mother most likely was one of them." said Mirage. "Thank you, Cliff." She gave him a kiss.  
"Oh, that's just gross." came Albel's voice. "Get a room."  
Fayt looked over. "How long have you been awake?"  
"Long enough to see that." Albel replied, pointing to the make-out session between the two Klausians. He let out a long breath and put his hand on his stomach. "Fayt."  
"What is it?"  
"Why am I so big?" Albel looked almost ready to cry. It was pathetic, really. "It feels like a monster crawling in my belly, but I know it's just the baby."  
"Babies." Mirage said. "There's two of them."  
Albel groaned and looked at her with a peeved look. "Now someone tells me." he said, getting up. "Well, I guess the big oaf is going to have to put another cradle together."  
"Yeah, yeah." Cliff said. "And you'll tell me where to put it, and what's wrong with how I put it there, and . . ."  
Albel frowned at him, a gleam of murderous intent in his eye.  
"Alright, alright. Sheesh, you don't have to glare."  
`~`~`~`~O_O~`~`~`~`  
Albel wandered down the hall. The fall leaves were changing colors, and piles of them were gathered in the corners of the outer walls where the wind blew them. The setting sun was casting a nice orange glow on everything, and the world looked to be at peace.  
Looked was the key word. Albel felt terrible. His back ached, his stomach was heavy, and he could swear his shoulders were aching, too. And there was that pain in his stomach. A constant wave of rolling pain, back to front, top to bottom. It was why he was walking, to try and make it stop. He reached his and Fayt's room, sliding to the floor and holding his stomach with a moan.  
Fayt looked up from where he was reading. "Albel?" he asked. He stood and walked over as Albel tried to stand again. "Something wrong?" He helped Albel up.  
"The feeling keeps getting worse." Albel whispered, holding his stomach. He groaned slightly, and leaned on the wall. "Fayt?"  
"It's alright, Albel. What kind of pain is it?" Fayt asked.  
"All across, back to front, top to bottom. It hurts, and keeps getting worse."  
"Come on. We should get you to the Diplo, just in case."  
Albel nodded an leaned on Fayt to walk as they made their way to the grounded ship.  
"Hmm?" Sophia peered out of her room, noticing something was up with the way the pair were walking. She followed, getting the door to the Diplo open for them. "Is everything alright?"  
Albel shook his head, his breath starting to come in small gasps. He stayed leaned on Fayt as he was taken to the room they'd prepared for this moment. It was still hard to get him to lie down, and he wouldn't let go of Fayt.  
""It's alright, Albel." Fayt soothed.  
"I'd like to see you do this." Albel hissed.  
"I was going to." Fayt reminded him. The pair looked over as Maria and Mirage came in to help.  
Time, and the pain, seemed to stretch for an eternity. Albel wouldn't accept anything for the pain, even if he'd already bruised Fayt's hand.  
"I don't know how to tell if anything's progressing the way it normally would." said Mirage.  
Albel grunted. Something was moving in there, and it was going down! "Hurgh!" He gripped Fayt's hand even tighter.  
"Albel?" asked Mirage.  
He couldn't speak. The pain was starting to tear at him, but he knew the end would be worth it. Or, at least he hoped that. "Next time, you do this, Fayt." he grunted.  
"Alright." Fayt agreed. He wasn't about to argue with a man in labor.  
"Hirgh!" Albel threw his head back, gasping as the infant's head started to crown.  
"Oh, god, it's already coming." Maria helped as the baby came out, Albel moaning and cursing Cliff for his predicament.  
"There we are." Maria handed the baby to Mirage so the child could be weighed, measured, and diapered. "Come on, Albel. There's just one more."  
"Beat it, wench!" Albel snarled. He grunted again as the second baby made it's way down. His body felt like it was being shredded, and then, it was over. The second child was born.  
Fayt gently brushed Albel's hair back. "It's over. They're here, Albel. Our children are here."  
Albel just focused on trying to breath and keep supper down. "Oh." he huffed, feeling them tilt him up a bit. His red eyes looked at Mirage with the standard 'what are you looking at' glare, but that changed when a small bundle was placed in his arms. His eyes kinda softened, and he pulled the blanket back from the red face. Gently, he leaned close and kissed the baby's forehead.  
"Well?" Fayt asked. He was startled when he was handed the other baby, but smiled when the little one yawned at him and blinked a little, showing two bright blues that were starting to turn aqua.  
"Boys." said Mirage. "Two healthy boys."  
Albel looked at Fayt. They'd managed to agree on one boy's name, now they suddenly had to come up with another.


	12. Chapter 12

Epilogue  
Albel wandered down the hall, back from his work with the Black Brigade. Training had been difficult, mostly due to the snow that was billowing and blowing outside. With a yawn, he rounded the corner, only to get run into by his sons.  
"Omph!" Albel smiled, ruffling the black-gold locks of his firstborn and blue-gold locks of the younger twin.  
"Welcome back, Dad!" the pair chimed.  
Albel sighed. "Where's your other father, Arzei?"  
The blue one grinned. "With our sisters."  
Albel frowned at him. "You know I don't like you being vague."  
The other brother spoke up. "He's in the nursery."  
"Thank you, Asbel." Albel headed over, wondering where the last ten years had gone. Since then, he'd born another pair of children, and Fayt had had twins of his own. Six was quite enough, but Fayt had argued, and won, the fight for one last pair.  
"Hey, Albel." said Fayt, standing up carefully. Because he'd wanted them, Fayt was the one pregnant. "Glad to see you home safely."  
"It's good to be home." Albel replied, giving the pair of seven-year-olds hugs. His two daughters, Garnet and Emeraude, tried to climb up him, even as the youngest pair, a son named Glyph and a daughter named Aqua, clung to his legs.  
"Hey, that's enough." said Fayt. "Don't climb."  
"Ok, Daddy." the youngest twins chimed.  
"So," Fayt got his kiss from Albel, "How was work?"  
"I'm not looking forward to the next lesson." Albel replied. "Those dolts couldn't even move the snow to clear the yard. I had to get that Aquarian girl to do it with her Runology."  
Fayt smiled. "Well, at least your home safe."  
"True." said Albel as they headed to dinner. It was good to be home.


End file.
